INTRODUCTION   TO 
SOCIOLOGY 


Nr  RODUCTION    TO 


SOCIOLOGY 


BY 

ARTHUR    FAIRBANKS 


THIRD   EDITION 

REVISED  AND  IN   PART  REWRITTEN 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
NEW   YORK   ::::::::::   1902 


GENERAL 


COPYRIGHT,  1901,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK 


IN  the  present  state  of  the  science  of  sociology  it  is  rash 
to  venture  beyond  the  monograph  on  some  special  topic,  to 
discuss  the  subject  as  a  whole.  The  present  volume  is  not 
intended  as  a  systematic  reconstruction  of  the  principles  of 
sociology,  even  in  outline.  Its  aim  is  rather  practical. 
Several  classes  of  students  to-day  are  directing  more  and 
more  attention  to  the  science  of  society,  with  the  purpose 
of  finding  a  more  scientific  basis  for  their  work.  The  min- 
ister would  infuse  religion  into  the  social  relations  of  every- 
day life,  and  seeks  to  understand  society,  which  he  would 
make  Christian.  Touched  with  a  deep  sense  of  human 
woe,  "  ethical "  reformers  find  that  material  aid  and  edu- 
cation, and  even  friendship,  cannot  meet  the  wants  of  the 
individual,  but  that  they  must  learn  to  know  society,  and 
work  through  society,  in  order  to  help  the  man.  The 
effort  to  administer  charity  wisely;  the  effort  to  make 
criminals  into  men,  and  to  prevent  men  from  becoming 
criminals ;  the  effort  to  develop  a  sounder  municipal  life  in 
our  cities,  and  a  truer  political  sentiment  in  our  nations — 
these  are  but  some  of  the  lines  of  work  in  which  men  to- 
day are  driven  to  study  the  science  of  society,  in  order  that 
they  may  not  do  harm  where  they  would  do  good.  More- 
over, students  of  politics,  of  economics,  of  psychology  and 

philosophy,  of  history,  are  turning  more  and  more  atten- 

v 

103692 


VI  PREFACE  TO  THE   FIRST   EDITION 

tion  to  the  sociological  basis  of  their  work.  It  has  been 
my  aim  to  furnish  a  brief  introduction  to  the  subject, 
which  would  make  plain  to  the  reader  something  of  its 
scope  and  importance,  and,  it  may  be,  aid  him  in  farther 
study.  That  the  specialist  in  sociological  investigation 
will  find  much  here  to  advance  the  knowledge  of  the 
science,  is  not  my  expectation. 

It  has  seemed  to  me  unwise  to  burden  the  page  with 
many  foot-notes.  To  take  the  place  of  these,  both  in 
directing  the  reader  to  further  material  and  in  making 
general  acknowledgment  to  scholars  to  whose  works  I 
have  been  indebted,  I  have  added  at  the  end  of  the  book  a 
bibliography,  arranged  in  detail  according  to  the  chapters 
in  the  body  of  the  work.  I  have  received  many  sugges- 
tions in  particular  from  Professor  Giddings'  papers ;  and 
regret  that  his  Principles  of  Sociology  only  came  into  my 
Jiands  when  the  present  work  was  already  in  type.  Fi- 
nally, I  desire  to  express  my  obligation  to  three  friends  and 
former  colleagues  —  Professors  Colby,  J.  K.  Lord,  and 
"VYells,  pf  Dartinoqth  College — for  their  help  and  encour- 
agement. 

ARTHUR  FAIRBANKS. 

YALE  UNIVERSITY,  April  22,  1896. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  THIRD  EDITION 

THE  present  work  was  published  originally  with  many 
misgivings,  not  as  to  the  need  of  a  volume  on  this  subject, 
but  as  to  the  success  with  which  the  writer  had  met  the 
existing  need.  The  reception  of  the  book  has  been  very 
gratifying,  and  proves  unquestionably  the  great  interest 
which  is  being  aroused  in  the  study  of  social  problems. 
The  book  was  not  originally  intended  for  use  as  a  text- 
book ;  but  in  preparing  a  third  edition,  the  fact  that  it  has 
found  a  place  in  many  colleges  and  universities  has  been 
constantly  in  my  mind.  The  second  edition  was  printed 
with  only  the  slight  verbal  corrections  which  seemed  most 
necessary ;  in  the  present  edition  many  changes  have  been 
made  in  order  to  secure  greater  simplicity  and  clearness, 
and  one  additional  chapter  has  been  written  to  fill  out  the 
original  plan.  The  reader  will,  perhaps,  miss  a  discussion 
of  the  sociological  theories  developed  by  Professor  Gid- 
dings  and  Professor  Baldwin,  not  to  mention  the  work  of 
European  writers.  To  discuss  these  theories  would  have 
been  a  most  welcome  task,  but  it  has  seemed  to  me  more 
fitting  to  hold  to  the  original  plan  of  the  book,  viz. :  to 
furnish  the  beginner  with  an  outline  of  the  subject  on 
which  he  can  base  his  own  further  studies.  Such  a  plan 
precluded  any  extended  discussion  of  the  theories  which 

have  been  put  forward  to  explain  social  phenomena;   I 

Tii 


Vlll  PREFACE   TO  THE  THIRD   EDITION 

need  hardly  add,  however,  that  the  reader  will  find  the 
titles  of  the  more  important  recent  sociological  works  in 
the  revised  bibliography  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

I  wish  to  express  my  gratitude  to  Professor  I.  A.  Loos 
of  this  university  for  his  suggestions  both  as  to  the  text 
and  the  bibliography ;  and  I  may  fittingly  take  this  oppor- 
tunity to  thank  Mr.  Totoki  of  the  University  of  Tokyo, 
for  the  interest  in  this  book  which  has  led  him  to  prepare 
and  publish  a  translation  of  it  in  the  Japanese  language. 


AETHUR  FAIRBANKS. 


THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY  OP  IOWA, 
IOWA  CITY,  January  21,  1900. 


CONTENTS       ^, 

INTRODUCTION 

PAGB 

THE  SUBJECT-MATTER  OF  SOCIOLOGY, 1 

What  is  a  Society  ?— The  Object  to  be  Studied— Definition— A 
Society  and  Social  Groups — Society  and  Social  Classes — Im- 
portance of  the  Study  of  the  Social  Group— Neglect  of  the 
Social  Factor  in  Study  of  the  Individual — Individualistic 
Study  of  Society— Study  of  Society  and  Study  of  Man  run 
Parallel— Individuals  and  Society  are  not  Separate  Things 
— Natural  Sciences  and  the  Study  of  Society. 

II 

THE  RELATION  OF  SOCIOLOGY  TO  OTHER  SOCIAL  SCIENCES,        .     11 

The  Study  of  Social  Phenomena — The  Sociological  Basis  of 
Economic  Theories — The  Study  of  Language— Sociological 
Theories  Underlie  Linguistic  Theories — Relation  of  Sociology 
to  the  Social  Sciences — The  Sphere  of  Sociology  as  a 
Science. 

Ill      >l 

CAN  SOCIOLOGY  BE  REGARDED  AS  A  SCIENCE  ?    .        .        .        .18 

Sociology  has  not  been  Studied  by  Scientific  Methods — Character 
of  Social  Phenomena — (1.)  The  Field  of  Sociology  as  a 
Science — (2.)  The  Method  of  Sociology  as  a  Science — Spe- 
cial Methods  of  Particular  Sciences — Analysis,  Classification, 
Induction — (3.)  The  Nature  of  Social  Phenomena — Human 
Society  and  Natural  Law — Natural  Law  as  "  Jus  Naturale  " — 
Natural  Law  as  Physical  Law — Natural  Law  as  Mechanical 
Law — Natural  Law  and  a  Mechanics  of  Self-interest — The 
so-called  Moral  Order  of  Society — The  Scientific  Study  of 
Social  Phenomena — Society  as  Part  of  the  One  World-process 
— Social  Phenomena  Distinctly  Psychical  in  Character — The 
Science  of  Society  and  the  Freedom  of  the  WilL 
ix 


X  CONTENTS 

IV    ^  PA6B 

THE  DIVISIONS  OF  SOCIOLOGY, =34 

Social  Statics  and  Social  Dynamics — three  Main  Divisions :  I. 
The  Nature  of  a  Society ;  II.  Functions  and  u  Organs "  of 
Society ;  III.  Social  Development. 

PART  I        \ 
CONCERNING  THE  NATURE  OF  A  SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  I 
SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  A  CONTRACT,  39 

The  Analogy  between  a  Society  and  a  Contract — The  Social  Con- 
tract Theory  is  a  Common-sense  Theory — Political  Influence 
of  the  Social  Contract  Theory— The  Form  of  the  Theory  to 
be  considered — The  Nature  of  a  Business  Contract — The  Con- 
tract Principle  in  Other  Relations — Marriage  as  a  Contract — 
The  State  as  a  Contract — The  Authority  of  a  Contract-state 
— The  Principle  of  Contract  Imperfect. 

The  Analogy  between  a  Society  and  a  Contract — Truths:  1. 
Society  is  an  Organization  Controlling  its  Members.  2.  This 
Control  is  definitely  Limited.  3.  The  Relation  of  Individual 
and  Group. 

Errors  :  The  Contract  Theory  suggests  some  False  Ideas 
of  Society.  1.  This  Theory  neglects  Other  Social  Bonds. 
2.  It  Emphasizes  the  Individual  Unduly.  It  Treats  the  Indi- 
vidual as  something  Separate  from  Society. 


SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  AN  ORGANISM, 

The  Analogy  of  a  Biological  Organism — Meaning  of  "  Organic  " 
as  Applied  to  Society. 

I.  The  "  Organic"  Nature  of  the  Social  Unit.     1.  Complexity 

and  Unity  of  Society.  2.  The  Unity  of  a  Society  is  Dynamic 
rather  than  Static.  3.  The  Unity  of  a  Society  is  Determined 
from  Within — Its  Growth  is  Determined  from  Within. 

II.  Social  Environment  and  Social  Evolution.     1.  Society  and 
its   Environment:     Its   Physical   Environment;     Its    Social 
Environment.     2.  Each  Organism  has  its   place  in  Organic 
Evolution;  Each  Society  has  its  place  in  Social  Evolution. 

Danger  of  the  Biological  Analogy — Its  Value. 
(Note  on  the  Differences  between  a  Society  and  a  Biological  Or- 
ganism. ) 


CONTENTS  XI 


CHAPTER  III 

PAGE 

THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  SOCIETY  :  LOCALITY  AND  RACE,    .        .     69 

The  Physical  Basis  of  Life — The  Physical  Basis  of  Society — 
Physical  Factors  :  Locality  and  Race. 

I.  Effect  of  Locality.     1.  Effect  of  the  Contour  of  the  Earth's 

Surface :  Contour  determines  (a)  the  Size  of  the  Social 
Group,  (b)  the  Isolation  of  Social  Groups,  and  (c)  the  Lines 
of  Social  Movement.  2.  Influence  of  Climate :  Light,  Tem- 
perature, Moisture.  3.  Society  is  Modified  by  What  it  Uses  : 
(a)  Inorganic  Materials,  (b)  Fauna,  (c)  Vegetation. 

II.  Effect  of  Race.     The  Principle  of   Heredity— Real  and  ficti- 
tious Blood-relationship — What  is  a  Race  ?   (a)  A  Group  of 
Men  living  Together ;  (b)  A  Group  of  Common  Stock ;  (c)  A 
large  Group  in  which  Resemblance  of  the  Members  is  re- 
ferred to  Heredity. 

Race  Expansion :  Theory  of  Population — Present  Increase  of 
Population  in  Europe — Increase  of  Population  in  Uncivilized 
Societies — Race  Persistence. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ASSOCIATION  :  THE  RELATION  OF  MEN  IN  SOCIETY,     .        .        .87 

The  Social  Group  not  merely  Physical.  1.  Bonds  of  Feeling: 
Man  not  a  Social  Animal  by  Nature;  Influences  for  and 
against  Sociability ;  Sentiment  as  a  Social  Bond.  2.  Bonds 
of  Common  Function ;  The  Unity  of  a  Biological  Organ  is 
a  Unity  of  Function ;  The  Unity  of  the  Social  Group  a  Unity 
of  Function — Social  Evolution  involves  Differentiation  of 
Activities  and  of  Groups— In  this  process  the  Bonds  uniting 
Men  become  more  Definite,  Various,  Permanent— Solidarity 
of  the  Family  Increased  in  the  new  forms  of  Social  Activity 
— Increase  in  extent  of  Expansive  Social  Groups. 

1.  Attractive  Forces,  based  in  Feeling.  2.  Functional  Bonds, 
due  to  Common  Activity,  a  part  of  the  Psychical  character 
of  the  Individual. 

Meaning  of  "Association."  Conditions  favoring  Association. 
Influence  on  Association  of  Locality,  of  Race.  Social  and 
Psychical  Factors  favoring  Association  (Vocation,  Rank, 
etc.). 


Xll  CONTENTS 


CHAPTE1 

PAGE 

THE  SOCIAL  MIND, 103 

The  Solidarity  of  a  Society  or  Social  Group — The  Psychical  Life 
of  the  Social  Group.  1.  Language  and  Thought  common  to 
the  Members  of  a  Social  Group;  Beliefs,  Practical  Knowl- 
edge, Methods  of  Investigation  and  of  Proof,  common  to  the 
Social  Group.  2.  Habits  and  Virtues  peculiar  to  each  Social 
Group;  Judgment  of  action  by  Conscience  a  Social  Fact; 
Ends  of  Action  and  Ideals  common  to  the  Group.  3.  Types 
of  Feeling  mark  the  Social  Group.  4.  Self-consciousness  of 
the  Social  Group,  of  the  Volitional  Group. 

The  Unity  of  the  Social  Mind  and  of  the  Individual  Mind — 
"Social  Mind"  a  Concrete  Phrase — Relation  of  the  Social 
Mind  and  Individual  Minds — The  Social  Mind  Exists  in  and 
through  the  Individual  Minds  Composing  It — The  Social 
Mind  the  Product  of  Association. 

(Note  on  the  Science  of  Society  and  the  Sciences  of  Man — Soci- 
ology and  History,  especially  the  History  of  Civilization — 
Sociology  and  the  Genesis  of  Psychical  Processes — Attention, 
Comparison,  Generalization,  etc.,  from  the  Stand-point  of 
Sociology — Sociology  and  Logic  and  Ethics.) 


PAKT  II 
FUNCTIONS  AND  "ORGANS"    OF  SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  VI 

CAUSES  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY, 119 

Social  Groups  depend  on  Social  Activities — Social  Force  versus 
Stimuli  to  Social  Activity — Needs  of  the  Individual  stimulate 
Social  Activities — Classification  of  Social  Stimuli. 

I.  Essential  Stimuli.  1.  Need  of  Food  as  a  Stimulus  to  Social 
Activity — Need  of  Protection  against  Cold  and  Wet — Fire  as 
a  Socializer — Need  of  Food  and  Clothing  as  an  Economic 
Stimuli — Fundamental  Character  of  these  Needs — Their  wide 
Range.  2.  Need  of  Protection  against  Fellow-men  as  a 
Social  Stimulus — This  Need  varies  with  the  Position  of  the 
Individual  or  Tribe — The  early  State,  as  meeting  this  Need — 
Need  of  Protection  in  Developed  Civilization — Increasing 
Need  of  Protection  within  the  State.  3.  Emotions  as  Causes 
of  Social  Activity  :  (a)  Self-regarding  Emotions  in  Primitive 


CONTENTS  Xlll 

PAGE 

Society,  in  Developed  Society;  (b)  General  Sympathetic 
Emotions ;  (e)  Sympathetic  Emotions  directed  toward  par- 
ticular Individuals — Broad  reach  of  Emotions  as  the  basis  of 
Family  Life. 

II.  Non-essential  or  Derived  Social  Stimuli.  1.  The  Love  of 
the  Beautiful  leads  to  Social  Activity.  2.  Intellectual  Needs 
lead  to  Social  Activity  ;  so  do  Moral  and  Religious  needs — 
Conclusion. 

CHAPTER  VII 

THE  MODES  OP  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY, 135 

Variety  of  Social   Phenomena — Genetic  Principle  of  Classifica- 


tion— Its  Meaning,  its  Value,  and  its  Application. 

I.  Economic  Mode  of  Social  Activity.     Rise   of  Economio*4ctiv- 

ity — The  three  phases :  (a)  Circulation,  (6)  Consumption,  (c) 
Production — Rise  of  Groups  and  Institutions  i«m  Economic 
Activity — Relation  of  Economic  Activity  to  Other  Forms  of 
Social  Life. 

II.  "  Social "    Activity    of    Society.     Character    of     "  Social " 
Groups — Custom  the  Fundamental  Type  of  all  Social  Au- 
thority— Relation  of  "Social"  Activity  to  other  Forms  of 
Social  Life. 

III.  Political  Activity  of  Society.     Political  Life  and  other  forms 
of  Social  Activity. 

IV.  Psychical  Activity  of  Society.     1.  Jl^thetic  Stimuli.     2.  In- 
tellectual Activity  and   Institutions.     3.  Moral  Activhjr^  and 
Institutions.     4.  Religious   Activity   and   Institutilwls— Rela- 
tion of  Psychical  Activity  to  other  forms  of  Social  Activity — 
Conclusion. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  SOCIETY,  ....  150 
Production  the  most  important  of  the  three  Factors  in  determining 
Industrial  Organization — Early  Industrial  Life — The  Stone 
Age ;  the  Bronze  and  Iron  Ages — Social  Importance  of  the 
Development  of  Tools— Early  Differentiation  of  Industrial 
Functions — Source  of  Food  as  marking  Stages  in  Develop- 
ment— The  Hunting  Stage,  the  Nomad  Stage,  and  the  Agri- 
cultural Stage — Influence  of  each  on  Social  Life — Increase 
in  the  Differentiation  of  Labor. 

I.  Exchange  and  the  gradual  Development  of  the  Market/  1.  In 
stitution  of  Money.  2.  Institutions  of  Transportation — War, 
and  the  Development  of  Circulation — Effect  of  Circulation  on 
other  Modes  of  Social  Activity. 


XIV  .  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

II.  Consumption.     The  "  Economic  Man  " — Man's  Needs  change 

in  Content,   in    Imperativeness,   and    in  Variety — Physical      ^ 
Needs  determine  Economic  Life — The  Institution  of  Prop- 
erty— Social  Importance  of  Property. 

III.  Production.     Relation  to  Circulation,  to  Consumption — The 
Institutions  of  Production — Slavery,  Feudalism,  the  House- 
hold Unit,  the. Factory  System — Influence  of  Industrial  Or- 
ganization on  other  Modes  of  Social  Life. 

The  Ideal  of  the  Economic  Group — Influence  of  this  Ideal  on 
Social  Life — Fundamental  Character  of  the  Economic  Mode 
of  Social  Activity. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  FAMILY  AS  A  SOCIAL  UNIT, 170 

The  Family  and  the  State — Earlier  Theory  that  the  State  arose 
from  the  Family.  The  Family  in  the  Matriarchal  Stage — 
Results  accepted  by  recent  writers :  (a)  The  Principles  of 
Marriage  Unions ;  (b)  Polyandry,  Polygyny,  and  Monogamy  ; 
(c)  Blood-affiliation  and  Property  Rights  in  the  Formation  of 
the  Family. 

I.  The  Early  Family  in  the  Economic  Activity  of  Society ;  Later 

Forms  of  the  Family  in  the  Economic  World ;  The  Economic 
Future  of  the  Family. 

II.  The  Family  and  the  "  Social "  Activity  of  Society. 

III.  The  Family  and  the  Psychical  Activity  of  Society :  (a)  In- 
tellectual, (b)  ^Esthetic,  (c)  Moral — Moral  Life  of  Paren 
Moral  Personality  of  Child,  developed  in  the  Family — Mo- 
Inheritance    includes   Customs    and    Social   Usages — Mo 
Training  in  the  Family  and  in  General  Society — Moral  J  a- 
heritance  the   Basis   of   Real   Progress ;    (d)  The   Religious 
Unity  of  the  Family ;   Continuity  and  Progress  of  Religion 
depend  on  the  Family. 

IV.  The  Function  of  the  Family  in  Political  Life. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  STATE  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY,  .        .        .  186 

Methods  used  in  the  Science  of  Politics. 

I.  Forms  of  the  State.  1.  The  Beginnings  of  Political  Life. 
2.  The  Tribal  State.  3.  The  City-state  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  4.  The  Feudal  State.  5.  The  Limited  Monarchy 
and  Democracy. 


CONTENTS  XV 

PAGE 

II.  Relation  of  Law  to  the  State.     Early  Law  based  on  Custom 
and   Religion — Law  as    Extended  by  the  Courts  in  Later 
Times — Law-making  by  Legislatures — Sovereignty  and   the 
Conception  of  the  State. 

III.  The  Functions  of  the  Modern  State.    Three  Forms  of  State 
Activity:    1.  Diplomatic  and  Military  Activity.     2.  The  State 
Punishes   Crime,  and   Defends  the  Citizen  in  his  Rights — 
Prevention  of  Crime.     3.  The   State  in  Relation  to  other 
Modes   of   Social    Activity :     (a)  The    State   and   Economic 
Activity — Direct   Interference  with   Industry  by  the   State. 
(6)  The  State  and  the  Family,     (c)  The   State  and  Higher 
Social  Activities — Education — The  State  and  Moral  Life — 
The  State  and  the  Church.     Conclusion. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  INDIVIDUAL  FROM  THE  STAND-POINT  OF  SOCIOLOGY,     .        .  203 

Welfare  of  the  Individual  vs.  the  Welfare  of  the  Social  Group — 
This  Conflict  in  the  Different  Spheres  of  Social  Life— The 
Teaching  of  History  as  to  this  Antithesis— The  Group  as  a 
Social  Unit — The  Place  of  the  Individual  in  Society — The 
Antithesis  between  the  Individual  and  the  Group  is  False — 
Psychical  Power  involves  Dependence  on  Society — InslituJ 
tions  as  a  Source  of  Power — Education  proceeds  on  this 
Principle — Egoism  and  Altruism. 

The  Person  is  the  Concrete  Expression  of  the  Group-life — The 

El'jment  of  Individuality  in  Persons— Individuality  of  Per- 

f  and  Complexity  of  Society — Individuality  of  Environ- 

ft — The  Individual  Personality — The  Individual  and  Social 

.  ingress. 

^  ^\ 

/       PARTI  III     ] 
SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

CHAPTER  XII 

EXTERNAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT,     .        .         .  217 

Introduction  to  the  Third  Part  ;  Social  Development. 

I.  The  Continuity  of  Social  Life.  Continuity  from  the  Physical 
Stand-point — Continuity  of  Social  Life  and  Social  Groups ; 
of  Institutions — The  Generation  of  Psychical  Life — Con- 
tinuity and  Change  Social  Development  from  the  Stand-point 
of  a  Supposed  Goal. 


XVi  CONTENTS 

PAGB 

II.  Increasing  Unity  and  Complexity  of  Social  Life.  Mr.  Spen- 
cer's Law  of  Progress — Physical  Side  of  Social  Develop- 
ment— General  Character  of  the  Early  Social  Group — Funda- 
mental Forms  of  Social  Activity  become  Distinct — The 
Simple  Economic  Group — Beginning  of  Separate  Economic 
Functions  and  Classes — Results  of  the  more  Complex  Eco- 
nomic Activity — Continuation  of  this  Process  at  the  Present 
Time — Political  Activity  becomes  Broader  and  More  Com- 
plex— Increasing  Complexity  and  Unity  in  other  lines. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

PROCESSES  OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT, 232 

Two  Theories  of  Social  Development — The  two  Processes  exist 
side  by  side. 

I.  Process  of  Dispersion  and  Differentiation.     1.  Race-increase — 

Centres  of  Dispersion — Differentiation  of  Physical  Types.  2. 
Differentiation  and  Dispersion  of  Forms  of  Psychical  Life, 
(a)  Language :  Dispersion,  Differentiation,  (i)  Religion : 
Dispersion,  Differentiation. 

II.  Process  of  Agglomeration.     Civilization  lessens  Number  of 
Social   Groups— Mr.  Spencer's    Classification  of    Different 
Types  of  Social  Aggregates— Statement  of  the  Process  of 
Agglomeration.     1.  This  Process  Regarded  from  its  Physical 
Side — Persistence    of     Race-characteristics — Unification    of 
Culture.      2.    This   Process   Regarded    from   the   Psychical 
Side — Language  and  Religion  as  Examples  of  this  Process — 
Fusion  of  Religious  Forms — Heterogeneity  the  Condition  of 
Progress — Process  of  Agglomeration  and  Assimilation — Con- 
clusion. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY, 250 

The  Real  Nature  of  Progress  : 

I.  The  Biological  Theory  of  Natural  Selection.    (1)  Multiplica- 

tion. (2)  Heredity  and  Variability.  (3)  Conflict— Result : 
The  Survival  of  the  Fittest. 

II.  Modifications  of  the  Struggle  for  Existence  in  the  Case  of 
Man.     1.  The    Unity  of   the  Social  Group  as  a   Modifying 
Factor.     2.  Lines  limiting  Struggle  are  no  longer  Territorial, 
but  by  Classes.     3.  Importance  of  Reason  as  a  Modifying 
Factor — Resulting  Changes. 

III.  Natural   Selection  in  Human   Society.     A.  The  Biological 
Conditions  of  Struggle  and  Selection  are  Present  in  Human 
Society — Multiplication,    Heredity,    and   Variability   Follow 


CONTENTS  XV11 

PAGE 

Biological  Law.  Multiplication,  joined  with  Social  Ambition, 
must  produce  Struggle — Conditions  of  Struggle  in  the  Differ- 
ent Modes  of  Social  Activity — Further  discussion  of  Hered- 
ity and  Variation  as  basis  of  Selection — Psychical  Heredity — 
Multiplication  of  Social  Groups  Leads  to  a  Struggle  of 
Groups,  in  addition  to  Struggle  of  Individuals  within  each 
group — Multiplication  of  Ideas  and  Psychical  Struggle — 
Resume :  Conditions  Present  in  Society  that  inevitably  lead 
to  Struggle  and  Selection. 

CHAPTER  XV 

NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY  (Continued),        .        .  269 

B.  Struggle  for   Existence  in   Human  Society.      1.    Economic 

Activity  as  a  Struggle  for  Existence — Progress  not  from 
Struggle,  but  to  Higher  Forms  of  Struggle.  2.  "Social" 
Activity  as  a  Struggle  for  Existence.  3.  Political  Activity 
as  a  Struggle — Importance  of  the  Struggle  between  lesser 
Political  Units.  4.  Psychical  Life  Involves  Struggles,  as  to 
New  Ideas  and  Inventions,  New  ^Esthetic  and  Ethical  and 
Religious  Ideals. 

Changes  in  the  Form  of  Struggle  as  Society  Develops.     1.  Physi- 
cal Struggle   is   Gradually  Raised  to  the   Psychical   Plane. 

2.  The  Aim  comes  to  be  not  Destruction,  but  Supremacy. 

3.  Irrational  and  Rational  Forms   of   Struggle — Change  in 
the  Competing  Units  as  the  Struggle  becomes  Psychical. 

C.  Survival  of  the  Fittest  as  the  Outcome  of  Struggle.     1.  Sur- 

vival of  the  Fittest  Individuals,  (a)  Biologically  the  Less 
Fit  Perish,  the  Fittest  Survive  and  Increase  most  Rapidly 
and  Rise  in  Social  Position,  (b)  Economic  Survival ;  Social 
Apparatus  for  Determining  it.  (c)  Political  Survival ;  Social 
Apparatus  for  Determining  it.  (d)  Psychical  Survival ;  Social 
Apparatus  for  Determining  it.  2.  Survival  of  the  Fittest 
Groups — Fitness  of  Groups  Determined  by  their  Organiza- 
tion— Type  of  Family,  Industrial  Organization,  Political 
Principles,  Standard  of  Right,  of  Truth,  of  Beauty  :  as  Ele- 
ments of  the  Organization  that  Determines  the  Fitness  of 
the  Group — Authority  of  each  is  made  Clear  by  the  Survival 
of  the  Group  which  it  Helps  to  Make  Fit.  3.  The  Survival 
of  the  Fittest  Institutions^-Process  of  Survival  of  Social 
InstitutiomjjXAuthority  and  Stability  of  Institutions,  together 
with  Principle  of  Development — Progress  by  the  Survival 
of  the  Fittest. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY,  .  .295 


UNIVERSITY 

. 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  SUBJECT-MATTER  OF  SOCIOLOGY 

What  is  a  Society  ?— The  Object  to  be  Studied— Definition— A  So- 
ciety and  Social  Groups — Society  and  Social  Classes — Impor- 
tance of  the  Study  of  the  Social  Group — Neglect  of  the  Social 
Factor  in  Study  of  the  Individual — Individualistic  Study  of  So- 
ciety— Study  of  Society  and  Study  of  Man  run  Parallel — Indi- 
viduals and  Society  are  not  Separate  Things — Natural  Sciences 
and  the  Study  of  Society. 

SOCIOLOGY  is  the  name  applied  to  a  somewhat  inchoate 
mass  of  materials  which  embodies  our  knowledge  about 
society.  Careful  students  and  sentimental  reformers  alike 
profess  devotion  to  the  new  science.  Economics  is  to  be  a 
branch  of  sociology  ;  theology  is  to  be  driven  from  the  pul- 
pit by  the  new  religion  of  social  reform ;  law  and  morals 
may  be  put  on  a  true  foundation,  the  state  at  last  may 
learn  its  true  function,  and  the  family  its  true  meaning, 
because  this  new  science  has  been  discovered  toward  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Its  forms  are  as  yet 
varied,  and  perhaps  would  suggest  a  series  of  pseudo- 
sciences  instead  of  one  genuine  science.  Spencer  uses  the 
term  sociology  to  mean  the  study  of  social  institutions  in 
their  origin  and  development ;  Letourneau  applies  it  to 
the  study  of  social  beginnings,  and  it  has  been  extended  to 
cover  a  good  deal  of  ethnology  and  anthropology  ;  Comte, 
who  has  the  honor  of  inventing  the  word  sociologie,  meant 
by  it  the  goal  and  summation  of  all  science  as  applied  to 
the  regulation  of  human  society ;  in  America  the  name 

1 


2  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

has  been  applied  indifferently  to  any  study  of  social  condi- 
tions which  aims  to  regenerate  society.  Such  are  some  of 
the  claims  put  forward  by  the  devotees  of  this  new  science, 
and  some  of  the  various  types  which  it  has  assumed.  In 
view  of  all  this  confusion  and  perplexity,  it  must  be  the 
first1;  work  df  .'the^student  to  define  the  scope  of  this  science, 
if  such  jt  be,,,  and  £o  determine  its  relation  to  other  sciences 
'already/  recOgr/ized  as  such.  Accordingly,  I  propose  first  to 
define  the  object  to  be  studied,  viz.,  society  or  the  social 
group,  and  to  indicate  the  importance  of  such  study  ;  sec- 
ondly, to  discuss  the  relation  of  the  general  science  of  so- 
ciety to  the  special  sciences  dealing  with  particular  classes 
of  social  phenomena ;  and,  thirdly,  to  inquire  whether  the 
study  of  society  as  thus  defined  deserves  the  name  of  a 
science.1 

What  is  a  Society  ? — Sociology  claims  to  be  the  science 
of  society,  and  the  question  immediately  arises  :  What  is 
society,  or  a  society,  this  object  which  is  to  be  studied  ? 
To-day  many  writers  talk  freely  of  society,  and  mean  by  it, 
on  one  page,  humanity  ;  on  the  next,  a  family,  or  a  race; 
on  the  next,  social  intercourse.  Those  writers  who  regard 
society  as  an  organism  are  perhaps  the  most  careless  in  this 
matter,  and  confuse  the  reader  by  including  in  said  organ- 
ism at  one  time  the  world  as  a  whole,  and  again,  without 
notice  of  change,  some  small  group  of  men  who  have  united 
for  a  definite  purpose. 

The  question  is  not  simply  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  word, 
important  as  this  may  be ;  so  long  as  the  object  to  be  stud- 
ied by  a  science  remains  vague,  that  science  cannot  be  ex- 
pected to  attain  clearness  and  accuracy.  Let  us  make  it 
our  first  task  to  ascertain  exactly  the  object  that  the  soci- 
ologist proposes  to  study,  and  only  then  shall  we  be  in  a 
position  to  ask  whether  the  method  of  sociology  can  be 
made  scientific,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  whether  sociology 

1  These  prolegomena  to  the  science  of  society  should  perhaps  serve 
as  an  appendix  rather  than  as  an  introduction.  Certainly  Part  III.  may 
better  be  read  after  the  remainder  of  the  volume. 


THE  SUBJECT-MATTER   OF   SOCIOLOGY  3 

has  a  definite  place  along  with  other  sciences  which  pro- 
pose to  study  society. 

Definition  of  a  Society.— ^A  society  may  be  defined  as  a 
group  of  men  who  are  bound  together  in  relations  more  or 
less  permanent.1)  For  scientific  purposes  men  are  grouped 
in  classes  which  include  those  who  are  alike,  and  exclude 
others  ;  such  a  group  is  not  a  society,  for  it  exists  only  in 
the  mind  of  the  thinker.  On  the  other  hand  the  company 
in  a  railway  car  includes  most  diverse  characters,  but  even 
so  casual  a  relation  may  bind  them  into  a  sort  of  society. 
Persons  in  the  same  audience  are  a  society  when  their 
minds  are  united  even  temporarily  by  a  common  interest 
in  the  speaker.  The  family  perpetuating  the  same  life  for 
generations,  is  a  society.  A  society  is  a  group  of  persons 
sharing  a  common  life  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time ;  but 
inasmuch  as  there  is  an  important  'distinction  between  the 
smaller  societies  developed  to  perform  a  definite  function, 
and  the  larger  society  in  which  these  exist,  I  shall  fre- 
quently call  the  former  "social  organs  "or  "social  groups," 
These  intervene  between  the  individual  and  the  larger  so- 
ciety to  which  he  belongs  :  they  constitute  the  framework 
or  structure  of  that  society ;  in  the  language  of  biology 
they  may  be  called  its  organs. 

Whatever  distinctions  may  be  drawn  between  the  social 
group  and  the  larger  society  in  which  the  group  exists,  in 
principle  the  character  of  the  two  is  the  same.  The  limit- 
ing lines  may  be  very  definite,  or  they  may  be  somewhat 
vague,  but  in  each  case  the  central  fact  is  a  common  life  in 
which  members  of  the  group  or  society  share. 

A  Society  and  Social  Groups. — The  word  "society" 
then  may  be  applied  to  the  larger  body  in  which  the  social 
groups  exist.  A  society  differs  from  these  smaller  groups 
in  that  it  is  not  called  into  existence  to  perform  any  defi- 
nite function,  for  apparently  it  exists  to  be-  served  rather 
than  to  serve.  It  does  not  always  coincide  with  a  city  or 

1  Cf.  Gumplowicz,  Grundriss  der  Sociologie,  p.  139  sqq.  Eng. 
trans.,  p.  136  sq. 


other  local  group,  or  with  a  nation,  the  political  group ; 
the  word  covers  more  nearly  the  same  ground  as  the  term 
people.  In  general  a  society  coincides  with  a  type  of  cult- 
ure. "  Society  "  meant  for  the  Jew,  the  Hebrew  race  ;  for 
the  Greek,  those  whom  Greek  culture  had  brought  under  its 
sway  or  had  made  to  contribute  immediately  to  its  progress; 
for  the  Koman,  the  Roman  world — those  who  acknowl- 
edged the  dominion  of  Rome.  To-day  "  society,"  in  the 
broad  use  of  the  term,  means  for  us  those  who  have  yielded 
to  the  influence  of  Christian  civilization  ;  and  we  seem  to 
foresee  the  day  when  all  the  larger  and  more  important 
ethnic  groups  may  be  regarded  as  parts  of  one  society,  be- 
cause they  share  the  same  culture  and  the  same  civilization. 
Society  and  Social  Classes. — The  object  which  sociology 
proposes  to  study  is  society  as  a  whole,  together  with  the 
smaller  societies  or  social  groups  which  are  developed  to 
perform  special  functions  in  the  life  of  the  larger  whole. 
But  while  it  is  only  the  group  as  a  society  which  properly 
comes  within  the  sphere  of  sociology,  it  is  evident  that 
various  types  of  social  classes  must  be  examined  in  order  to 
understand  the  groups  which  may  be  called  societies.  Life 
in  the  same  locality  and  identity  of  race  are  the  basis  of 
classes  which  all  but  inevitably  become  social  groups  shar- 
ing a  common  psychical  life,  so  that  these  classes  cannot  be 
neglected  by  sociology.  In  similar  manner  the  classes 
which  are  developed  in  an  advanced  state  of  society,  classes 
according  to  rank,  according  to  occupation,  according  to 
economic  and  moral  condition,  etc.,  must  be  considered  by 
sociology  because  of  their  influence  on  the  groups  which 
may  be  distinctly  recognized  as  societies.  After  this  has 
/  been  granted^the  student  should  never  forget  that  the  real 
/  \  object  of  sociological  study  is  not  classes  of  men  that  are 
/  alike,  but  groups  of  men  who  have  come  to  share  a  com- 
\rnon  life.^i 

So  important  a  subject  as  this  has,  of  course,  received 
some  attention  before  the  rise  of  a  branch  of  science  en- 
tirely devoted  to  the  consideration  of  it.  Even  when  the 


THE   SUBJECT-MATTER   OF  SOCIOLOGY  5 

historian  has  commanded  the  reader's  imagination  by 
selecting  great  men  for  his  theme,  the  true  student  has 
recognized  that  it  is  the  ideals  of  the  nation  which  find 
expression  in  their  lives.  The  study  of  leaders  in  thought 
and  action  deserves  the  name  of  history,  not  because  these 
leaders  are  the  only  men  worth  studying,  but  because  the 
study  of  their  lives  may  let  us  see  inside  the  real  life  of  the 
nation.  The  real  subject  of  history  is  the  life  of  a  people, 
the  development  of  the  groups  which  go  to  make  up  this 
life,  and  the  way  in  which  these  groups  act  together  to 
form  the  larger  whole. 

Importance  of  the  Study  of  the  Social  Group. — The  at- 
tempt to  apply  the  doctrine  of  evolution  to  society  and  to 
the  results  of  social  life  has  shown  the  importance  of  the 
social  group  as  an  object  of  study.  It  is  the  group  quite 
as  much  as  the  individual  which  is  subject  to  the  law 
of  natural  selection  and  survival  of  the  fittest.  Among 
savages  these  groups  may  be  small  and  subject  to  change  ; 
still  it  is  groups,  rather  than  individuals,  which  compete 
with  each  other  for  the  means  of  existence.  The  members 
of  a  group  shield  each  other  from  the  full  effect  of  the 
natural  laws  of  survival,  so  that  the  very  existence  of  these 
laws  has  been  questioned ;  but  in  the  struggle  of  group 
with  group  they  are  seen  operating  in  full  force.  The  in- 
fluences of  climate  and  physical  environment  affect  the 
size,  activity,  and  energy  of  the  group  quite  as  much  as 
they  affect  the  individual  life.  Turning  from  primitive 
society  to  society  highly  civilized,  we  find  that  still  the 
members  of  a  group  shield  each  other,  while  group  strug- 
gles with  group. /The  weakest  child  receives  the  most 
care  in  the  family;  the  trades-union  means  that  laborer 
stands  by  laborer ;  the  great  function  of  the  nation  is  to 
protect  its  citizens  from  internal  lawlessness  and  from  ex- 
ternal attack.  Every  social  institution  unites  men  good 
and  bad  into  one  social  group,  which  stands  or  falls  as  a 
unit  in  the  struggle  with  similar  competitors.  The  laws 
of  natural  selection  apply  to  the  social  group,  and  this  is 


6  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

therefore   the  important  unit  in  the  process  of   social 
evolution. 

Neglect  of  the  Social  Factor  in  Study  of  the  Individual. 

— But  while  the  study  of  the  social  group  has  been  recog- 
nized as  important  and  has  been  emphasized  in  some  de- 
velopments of  modern  thought,  its  full  meaning  has  been 
generally  neglected.  ••  Law,  philosophy,  and  especially  relig- 
ion, have  tended  to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the  in- 
dividual as  the  social  unit,  and  the  vital  connection  between 
individuals  has  been  overlooked.  The  example  of  psy- 
chology will  illustrate  the  results  of  this  atomistic  study  of 
individuals.  We  speak  of  the  "  old  psychology,"  but  psy- 
chology, both  old  and  new,  has  ordinarily  stopped  with  the 
individual  mind  ;  the  new  psychology  differs  from  the  old 
in  that  it  applies  scientific  methods  to  the  study  of  mind 
as  a  physical  organism  in  a  physical  environment ;  it  does 
not  emphasize  the  environment  of  mind  by  mind,  and  it 
is  inclined  to  overlook  the  distinctively  human  faculties 
which  are  developed  in  this  psychical  environment.  His- 
tory tells  us  how  psychologists  have  invented  doctrines  of 
innate  ideas  to  cover  what  their  study  of  the  individual 
did  not  explain  ;  how  language  and  religion  have  been  re- 
garded alternately  as  the  gift  of  God  and  as  the  invention 
of  cunning  men  ;  how  the  highest  ideals  of  the  race,  ideals 
of  truth,  of  beauty,  of  goodness,  have  been  at  one  time 
treated  as  intuitions  implanted  in  the  individual  by  an  ex- 
tramundane  power,  at  another  time  entirely  overlooked  or 
denied.  In  a  word,  man  has  been  stripped  of  the  psychical 
powers  which  are  his  inheritance  as  a  social  being,  and 
upon  the  naked  skeleton  of  a  mind  thus  obtained,  psy- 
chologists have  thrust  what  garments  they  would.  The 
individual  person  exists  in  society,  and  any  true  study  of 
the  individual  must  recognize  the  dependence  of  his  hab- 
its, his  ideals,  and  all  his  intellectual  activity,  upon  the 
psychical  life  of  the  group  of  which  he  is  a  member. 

Individualistic  Study  of  Society. — There  may  be  some 
excuse  for  thinkers  who  have  neglected  the  social  factor  in 


THE   SUBJECT-MATTER  OF   SOCIOLOGY  7 

their  study  of  the  individual,  but  I  can  see  no  shadow  of 
excuse  for  the  way  in  which  individualistic  ages,  like  the 
present,  have  sought  to  understand  society  without  looking 
beyond  the  individuals  which  make  up  society.  Two  prob- 
lems are  proposed  to  the  child,  under  the  name  of  mathe- 
matics :  If  one  acre  will  yield  twenty  bushels  of  wheat, 
how  much  will  six  acres  yield  ?  If  a  man  can  make  one 
table  a  day,  how  many  can  ten  men  make  ?  The  vital  dif- 
ference between  these  two  questions  does  not  appear  in  the 
first  chapters  of  the  arithmetic.  Economics  has  made 
much  of  the  "economic  man"  in  its  attempt  to  explain 
one  group  of  social  phenomena,  but  it  has  become  evident 
that  an  equipment  of  social  instincts  is  not  enough  to  make 
such  a  typical  man  the  basis  for  a  social  science.  The  so- 
cial organs  for  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth 
are  more  than  mere  aggregates  of  "economic  men,"  and 
unless  they  are  studied  as  forms  of  society,  economics  is  a 
one-sided,  if  not  a  barren  science.  The  politics  which  be- 
gan with  the  freedom  and  equality  of  all  men,  and  yet  for- 
got that  they  were  brothers,  has  done  good  service,  but  its 
fruits  do  not  justify  its  claim  to  scientific  truth. 

Various  types  of  social  philosophy  have  failed,  because 
their  attention  was  centred  on  the  individual.  The  theory 
of  natural  rights  and  natural  law,  and  in  like  manner  the 
social  contract  theory,  suffered  from  this  defect.  They 
began  with  an  abstraction,  viz.,  individuals  apart  from  so- 
ciety, and  they  ended  with  an  abstraction,  a  "  natural "  or 
a  "  contractual "  government.  In  contrast  with  these  are 
the  theories  of  the  idealist  philosophers,  who  would  will- 
ingly make  a  place  for  society  in  their  system.  They  have 
equipped  the  idealistic  individual  with  countless  social  in- 
stincts and  social  notions,  but  even  then  they  fail  to  explain 
society,  for  the  problem  is  not  fairly  stated.  And  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  even  those  students  who  have  most 
clearly  recognized  the  organic  character  of  society,  have 
been  unable  to  escape  entirely  from  the  habit  of  studying 
primarily  the  individual.  For  example,  Mr.  Spencer  be- 


8  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

gins  his  Principles  of  Sociology  with  an  elaborate  recon- 
struction of  the  primitive  man,  an  abstraction  even  far- 
ther from  reality  than  the  economic  man ;  and  Mr.  Ward, 
in  his  study  of  the  dynamics  of  society,  hardly  recog- 
nizes social  organs  and  activities  at  all,  but  devotes  his 
attention  to  the  individual  as  a  potential  member  of 
society. 

Study  of  Society  and  Study  of  Man  Run  Parallel. — It  is 
not  difficult  to  see  that  the  study  of  human  nature,  of  man 
as  man,  and  the  study  of  human  society,  run  parallel,  and 
should  always  complement  each  other.  !  The  student  of 
physical  nature  posits  molecules  and  atoms  as  the  indi- 
vidual units  in  the  realm  of  nature,  and  he  seeks  to  explain 
the  aggregate  and  these  units  in  terms  of  each  other./  The 
atom  studied  by  itself  cannot  explain  the  aggregate,  for  the 
atom  is  a  mere  abstraction  never  existing  by  itself.  /  The 
forces  at  work  in  the  crystal,  or  in  the  plant,  are  the  forces 
which  chemistry  and  physics  have  made  most  familiar  to 
us  ;  but  chemistry  and  physics  are  not  the  whole  of  natural 
science,  for  the  study  of  atom  and  molecule  by  themselves 
does  not  reveal  the  properties  of  their  combinations.  In 
the  study  of  physical  nature,  it  is  clear  (1)  that  the  unit 
and  the  aggregate  are  not  separate  things,  and  so  are  not 
to  be  studied  as  separate  things,  but  rather  as  interacting 
parts  in  one  whole  ;  'and  (2)  that  the  properties  of  the  com- 
bination cannot  be  fully  ascertained  by  studying  units 
which  are  formed  by  abstraction. 

Individual  and  Society  are  not  Separate  Things. — It  is 
equally  true  in  the  study  of  human  nature  that  the  indi- 
vidual and  society  are  not  separate  things,  so  that  neither 
can  be  fully  understood  when  they  are  studied  separately. 
It  is  easy  to  forget  that  the  human  individual,  when  sepa- 
rated from  his  mental  and  moral  environment,  is  an  unreal 
abstraction — a  mere  possibility  of  becoming  a  man.  Far- 
ther, it  is  true  that  society  is  a  composite  whole,  the  prop- 
erties of  which  cannot  be  fully  ascertained  by  any  study  of 
the  single  person.  In  the  animal,  atoms  and  molecules  in- 


THE  SUBJECT-MATTER  OF   SOCIOLOGY  9 

teract  upon  each  other  to  produce  new  results,  by  reason 
of  their  organic  relation,  and  the  organic  whole  maintains 
a  definite  relation  both  to  its  component  parts  and  to  its 
environment,  (a)  In  society,  the  units  interact  upon  each 
other,  and  determine  each  other  in  new  ways  because  of 
their  relation.  %A  man  growing  up  in  solitude  would  know 
some  forms  of  pleasure  and  pain  ;  he  could  not  understand 
all  the  phenomena  of  love  and  hate,  of  anger  and  pity,  of 
sympathy  and  revenge,  for  these  can  only  exist  as  man 
touches  man  in  society.  (J)  Again,  society  as  a  whole 
maintains  a  definite  relation  to  its  constituent  factors. 
Laws  and  moral  ideals,  custom  and  public  opinion,  shape 
the  lives  of  individuals  ;  and  in  these  lives  they  are  born 
anew,  to  determine  the  character  of  the  whole,  (c)  Finally, 
the  social  whole  maintains  an  equilibrium  in  its  environ- 
ment, a  unity  in  the  midst  of  change,  which  might  be 
termed  its  life.  The  church,  the  school,  the  factory,  are 
not  chance  aggregates  of  men,  but  each  realizes  a  common 
life,  each  unifies  the  common  religious,  or  intellectual,  or 
economic  activity  of  those  whom  its  influence  touches.  It 
is  the  conditions,  the  forms,  and  the  laws  of  this  common 
life,  which  sociology  is  to  study. 

Natural  Sciences  and  the  Study  of  Society. — Sociology, 
in  the  broad  sense  of  the  term,  is  the  science  which  deals 
with  social  phenomena  ;  and  it  is  in  this  sphere  of  social 
phenomena  that  the  special  features  of  human,  in  distinc- 
tion from  animal  life,  are  to  be  found.  Not  that  there  is 
a  sharp  and  absolute  line  dividing  the  facts  of  animal  life 
from  the  facts  of  human  life.  The  phenomena  of  associ- 
ation and  even  a  rudimentary  semblance  of  reasoning  do 
appear  among  animals.  Nevertheless,  the  science  of  ani- 
mal life  is  primarily  concerned  with  purely  biological  data, 
while  the  study  of  man  deals  with  the  facts  of  rational 
life.  The  attempt  has  been  made  to  set  the  so-called  sci- 
ences of  man  over  against  the  natural  sciences.  Whether 
the  study  of  society  can  ever  be  placed  alongside  the  nat- 
ural sciences  and  lay  claim  to  equal  validity,  is  a  question 


10  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

I  propose  to  consider  later.  Certainly  there  is  a  group 
of  studies  concerned  with  social  phenomena,  studies  which 
deal  with  man  as  a  being  that  reasons,  chooses,  and  seeks 
to  realize  ideals ;  and  the  question  now  before  us  is 
whether  sociology  can  vindicate  for  itself  a  definite  place 
in  this  series  of  studies. 


II 

THE     RELATION    OF    SOCIOLOGY     TO     OTHER     SOCIAL 
SCIENCES 

The  Study  of  Social  Phenomena — The  Sociological  Basis  of  Economic 
Theories— The  Study  of  Language— Sociological  Theories  Un- 
derlie Linguistic  Theories — Relation  of  Sociology  to  the  Social 
Sciences — The  Sphere  of  Sociology  as  a  Science. 

The  Study  of  Social  Phenomena. — Sociology  is  a  rel- 
atively new  claimant  to  recognition  in  the  list  of  sciences, 
and  it  finds  already  in  the  field  several  others  which  profess 
to  deal  with  much  the  same  subject.  Economics,  politics, 
and  a  series  of  so-called  comparative  sciences,  deal  each 
with  a  particular  class  of  social  phenomena ;  while  the  stu- 
dent of  history  seeks  to  discover  the  relation  of  these  dif- 
ferent classes  for  one  people  and  one  age,  and  examines 
the  development  of  a  people  from  age  to  age.  Sociology, 
defined  as  the  science  of  social  phenomena,  includes  all  of 
these  social  sciences  ;  in  this  general  use  of  the  term  it  is 
not  a  distinct  science,  but  rather  the  name  for  a  body  of 
knowledge  including  several  sciences.  The  more  definite 
sphere  of  sociology  as  a  science  is  indicated  when  we  recog- 
nize that  each  of  the  sciences  dealing  with  social  phenom- 
ena involves  a  theory  as  to  the  nature  of  society,  so  that 
in  order  to  proceed  safely  and  correctly  it  must  have  a  cor- 
rect theory  of  society.  One  or  two  examples  will  make 
this  plain. 

The  Sociological  Basis  of  Economic  Theories. — The 
most  fully  developed  science  of  social  phenomena  is  un- 
doubtedly economics.  Much  of  the  progress  made  by  it 
has  been  on  the  assumption  of  a  particular  theory  of  social 
organization,  although  perhaps  the  theory  has  sometimes 

11 


12  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

been  unnecessarily  emphasized.  This  theory,  in  its  ex- 
treme form,  abstracts  from  all  other  human  attributes  and 
postulates,  as  the  economic  man,  a  being  ruled  by  one  de- 
sire— the  desire  for  wealth.  Out  of  such  units  it  puts 
together  its  social  structure,  and  then  attempts  to  out- 
line a  "  mechanics  "  of  this  economic  society.  In  such  a 
society,  combinations  and  separations,  amity  and  hostility, 
are  explained  by  one  and  the  same  principle,  just  as  the 
formation  of  worlds  and  their  present  position  in  the 
heavens  might  be  explained  according  to  one  principle  by 
a  "  celestial  mechanics. "  Strange  to  say,  the  economic 
society  thus  outlined  bore  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the 
industrial  state  of  England  during  the  early  part  of  the 
present  century,  so  that  these  prophets  might  claim  honor 
in  their  own  country,  if  not  elsewhere.  While  this  eco- 
nomic theory  of  society,  like  some  other  semi-mathemati- 
cal abstractions,  has  served  good  purpose  in  isolating  one 
class  of  phenomena  and  even  making  them  subject  to 
measurement,  it  is  fortunate  that  economic  science  has  not 
followed  this  theory  any  too  closely.  The  varied  needs, 
interests,  and  habits  of  men  have  never  been  completely 
ignored,  and  they  have  commanded  increasing  recognition. 
The  rise  of  newer  economic  schools,  as  they  would  call 
themselves,  has  made  it  evident  that  if  economics  is  to 
interpret  industrial  phenomena  in  any  satisfactory  man- 
ner, it  must  have  some  theory  of  society  that  is  broader 
and  more  concrete  than  that  which  it  has  put  forward  in 
the  past.  The  economic  structure  is  really  an  abstraction 
from  the  general  structure  of  society  ;  a  necessary  and 
useful  abstraction,  but  nevertheless  it  cannot  be  fully  un- 
derstood by  itself.  The  economic  group  or  organ  is  a 
social  group  or  organ,  Avith  an  economic  end  in  view ; 
and  the  principles  of  its  existence  and  development  can 
only  be  learned  by  a  study  of  social  organs  in  general. 
Economic  progress  is  social  progress  viewed  from  one 
special  standpoint ;  it  should  be  studied  as  one  phase  of 
the  evolution  of  society.  In  a  word,  sociology  is  more 


SOCIOLOGY  AND  OTHER  SOCIAL  SCIENCES         13 

fundamental  than  economics  and  the  other  sciences  which 
deal  with  special  classes  of  social  phenomena.  Naturally, 
it  has  arisen  later  than  these  sciences  which  handle  more 
concrete  problems,  but  they  in  turn  are  to  become  de- 
pendent on  the  general  principles  which  it  deduces.  The 
general  principles  governing  the  life  of  men  in  society, 
are  the  oasis  on  which  economics  will  have  to  build  its 
theory  of  the  economic  life  of  society. 

The  Study  of  Language. — The  necessity  of  some  theory 
as  to  the  nature  of  society,  and  the  importance  of  a  correct 
theory,  may  be  illustrated  farther  by  the  example  of  lin- 
guistics. Until  recent  times,  the  study  of  language  con- 
sisted in  the  collection  of  masses  of  material  from  which  it 
was  difficult  to  make  genuine  deductions,  because  no  true 
principle  of  arrangement  existed.  The  effect  of  the  idea 
of  evolution,  and  the  application  of  the  comparative  meth- 
od, have  wrought  marvellous  changes  by  introducing  such 
a  principle.  Grammatical  forms  are  studied  now  as  an 
evolution,  i.e.,  later  forms  are  treated  as  descendants  of 
earlier  forms.  The  lexicographer  is  no  longer  content  with 
grouping  the  meanings  of  a  word  as  may  seem  to  him  con- 
venient. He  desires  to  trace  the  "  evolution  "  of  different 
meanings  from  the  simple  meaning  of  a  postulated  or 
original  root ;  here,  again,  evolution  has  meant  nothing 
more  than  descent ;  the  problem  has  been  to  trace  words 
back  to  their  "arboreal  ancestor." 

Sociological  Theories  underlie  Linguistic  Theories. — 
The  history  and  theory  of  language  are  indissolubly  con- 
nected with  the  history  and  the  psychical  capacity  of  man. 
Language  is  a  social  product,  it  is  a  function  of  all  psychi- 
cal activity,  so  that  its  changes  and  its  evolution  are  but 
one  side  of  the  evolution  of  society.  Accordingly,  different 
theories  of  social  evolution  are  reflected  in  different  theories 
of  the  development  of  language.  Mr.  Spencer  teaches 
that  social  growth  is  subject  to  a  law  of  differentiation  and 
integration  ;  forms  of  social  life  tend  to  separate,  and 
new  organs  are  arising  to  perform  special  functions  for  the 


14  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

whole  organism.  In  harmony  with  this  theory,  language 
should  grow  in  definiteness  and  in  complexity,  for  it  is  but 
one  phase  of  social  activity.  Such  a  theory  of  the  develop- 
ment of  language  prevailed  widely,  earlier  in  the  century. 
Dr.  Bobinson,  in  the  preface  to  his  translation  of  Gese- 
nius's  Hebrew  Lexicon,  described  it  as  follows  : 

"The  historico-logical  method  of  lexicography  first  inves- 
tigates the  primary  and  native  significance  of  a  word,  and 
then  deduces  from  it  in  logical  order  the  subordinate  mean- 
ings and  shades  of  sense,  as  found  in  the  usages  of  different 
ages  and  writers,  which,  in  short,  presents  a  logical  and  his- 
torical view  of  each  word  in  all  its  varieties  of  significance 
and  construction. ' ' 

The  same  principle  prevailed  in  Passow's  Greek  Lexicon, 
and  to  a  degree  in  the  lexicon  of  Liddell  and  Scott,  which 
was  based  on  this.1  Another  thinker2  explains  social 
growth  by  the  antagonism  and  amalgamation  of  elements 
originally  heterogeneous  ;  one  tribe  reduces  another  to 
slavery  ;  the  new  group  is  more  complex,  for  the  tribe 
that  was  stronger  has  risen  by  subjecting  the  other  to  its 
own  ends.  Language  would  reflect  such  a  process  as  this  ; 
its  complexity  would  be  due  to  the  antagonism  and  amal- 
gamation of  different  elements,  while  its  extension  and  uni- 
fication would  represent  the  end  rather  than  the  beginning 
of  its  development.  The  new  Hebrew  Lexicon  of  Siegfried 
and  Stade  expressly  repudiates  the  principles  on  which  its 
predecessors  for  half  a  century  had  been  constructed : 

"On  principle  we  have  avoided  setting  up  any  so-called 
ground-meaning  of  words.  For  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  in 
a  language  the  development  of  meanings  does  not  proceed 
from  a  splitting  up  of  a  general  and  comprehensive  idea  into 
special  meanings  which,  so  to  speak,  represent  the  parts  of 

1  In  fact,  the  preface  to  the  first  edition  of  Liddell  and  Scott  blames 
Passow  for  paying  too  much  attention  to  the  context  (especially  in 
Homer)  in  determining  the  exact  meaning  of  a  word.  Such  a  pro- 
cedure is  not  "  logico-historical."  * 

*  Gumplowicz,  Der  Rasserikampf. 


SOCIOLOGY   AND   OTHER   SOCIAL  SCIENCES         15 

the  general  conception ;  but  rather  that  these  special  mean- 
ings arise  by  the  transfer  of  a  word  with  a  special  meaning  to 
something  else  that  is  special,  which  appears  similar  to  the 
former  or  is  thought  in  connection  with  it.  In  our  opinion, 
the  general  meanings  represent  weakened  (verblasste)  special 
meanings.  Especially  do  we  consider  those  general  meanings, 
which  in  the  last  decades  have  decorated  our  Hebrew  lexicons 
and  commentaries,  as  products  of  modern  thought,  or,  if  you 
will,  as  phantoms,  which  never  corresponded  with  anything 
real.  And  purposely,  too,  have  we  avoided  giving  the  history 
of  the  development  of  meanings  of  the  individual  words 
through  the  various  stages ;  for  we  are  too  far  removed  from 
that  time  to  make  such  an  attempt  successfully. ' ' 

The  history  of  language  may  be  our  most  important  key 
to  the  development  of  culture,  and  the  growth  of  the  so- 
cial organism ;  but  language  can  never  be  understood  ex- 
cept as  a  function  of  the  growing  organism.  Each  theory 
as  to  the  development  of  society  has  its  counterpart  in  the 
particular  science  of  linguistics. 

Relation  of  Sociology  to  the  Social  Sciences. — The  rela- 
tion of  sociology  to  other  sciences  dealing  with  society, 
which  I  have  attempted  to  illustrate  by  the  case  of  econom- 
ics and  of  linguistics,  may  be  briefly  outlined  as  follows. 
Social  phenomena  are  various  and  complex.  Without 
pressing  the  figure  too  far,  we  may  say  that  society  is  a 
very  complex  organism  in  the  course  of  development.  No 
one  observer,  and  no  one  method,  will  suffice  for  its  study. 
One  series  of  social  sciences  will  deal  each  with  a  special 
class  of  social  phenomena,  noting  their  rise,  development, 
and  present  character.  Politics,  for  example,  discusses  the 
phenomena  of  the  state,  and  comparative  religion  the  re- 
ligious phenomena ;  each  science  will  include  both  a  his- 
torical and  a  critical  discussion  of  its  phenomena.  These 
may  be  regarded  as  the  first  series  of  social  sciences.  Again, 
different  eras,  "cross-sections  "  of  this  process  of  develop- 
ment, may  be  studied  by  themselves,  in  order  to  learn  the 
relation  of  different  classes  of  phenomena  within  such  a 


16  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

section,  and  to  trace  in  detail  the  causes  of  change  from  a 
preceding  section.  History,  and  more  definitely  the  his- 
tory of  civilization,  is  the  inclusive  name  for  the  study  of 
society  in  this  second  manner.  Finally,  special  phases  of 
this  development,  each  of  which  touches  various  classes 
of  phenomena,  may  be  studied  independently.  The  inves- 
tigation of  institutions  such  as  the  family  and  property 
hardly  belongs  to  a  science  dealing  with  one  class  of  social 
phenomena,  for  such  an  institution  affects  profoundly  the 
structure  of  society  itself,  and  all  the  different  classes  of 
phenomena  which  the  first  group  of  social  sciences  discuss. 

In  the  broad  use  of  the  term,  sociology  might  include 
all  these  various  sciences  which  deal  with  social  phenomena. 
But  after  this  study  of  special  classes  of  social  phenomena, 
of  sections  and  phases  of  this  development,  has  been  fairly 
begun,  it  becomes  possible  to  study  intelligently  the  gen- 
eral character  and  the  general  growth  of  the  social  "or- 
ganism "  as  a  whole.  This  latter  study  of  general  princi- 
ples logically  precedes  the  study  of  the  social  sciences, 
though  chronologically  it  must  follow  them.  It  is  my 
belief  that  such  a  "social  biology"  will  work  as  profound 
changes  in  the  social  sciences,  as  the  study  of  biology  proper 
has  wrought  in  the  sciences  dealing  with  plant  and  animal 
life. 

The  Sphere  of  Sociology  as  a  Science. — This  last  anal- 
ogy may  serve  to  indicate  with  some  distinctness  the  exact 
sphere  of  sociology,  and  the  results  which  may  be  expected 
from  such  a  study  of  society.  Biology  deals  with  the  gen- 
eral phenomena  of  life,  and  the  fundamental  principles  of 
life  and  growth ;  it  discusses  also  the  evolution  of  new 
forms  of  life,  and  the  laws  governing  this  process.  The 
name  might  be  used  to  embrace  all  the  biological  sciences, 
but  it  refers  in  particular  to  the  common  basis  of  these 
sciences.  Similarly,  sociology  might  be  regarded  as  em- 
bracing all  the  sciences  dealing  with  society,  but  it  does 
not  destroy  the  partial  independence  of  any  of  these 
branches.  In  a  way  it  includes  economics,  politics,  etc.; 


SOCIOLOGY  AND   OTHER  SOCIAL  SCIENCES         17 

but  instead  of  supplanting  them,  as  Comte  thought,  its 
proper  sphere  is  to  lay  the  foundation  for  these  particular 
social  sciences.  Defined  from  this  standpoint,  sociology 
will  deal  (1)  with  the  general  structure  of  society,  its  or- 
gans, and  their  functions  ;  and  (2)  with  the  laws  govern- 
ing social  progress,  or  the  evolution  of  new  and  more 
complex  forms  of  social  life.  On  this  foundation  the 
sciences  dealing  with  special  classes  of  social  phenomena 
can  build  with  a  sure  hand. 


Ill 

CAN  SOCIOLOGY  BE  REGARDED   AS   A   SCIENCE? 

Sociology  has  not  been  Studied  by  Scientific  Methods— Character  of 
Social  Phenomena — (1.)  The  Field  of  Sociology  as  a  Science — (2.) 
The  Method  of  Sociology  as  a  Science— Special  Methods  of  Par- 
ticular Sciences — Analysis,  Classification,  Induction — (3.)  The 
Nature  of  Social  Phenomena — Human  Society  and  Natural  Law — 
Natural  Law  as  "  Jus  Naturale  " — Natural  Law  as  Physical  Law — 
Natural  Law  as  Mechanical  Law — Natural  Law  and  a  Mechanics  of 
Self-interest — The  so-called  Moral  Order  of  Society — The  Scien- 
tific Study  of  Social  Phenomena — Society  as  Part  of  the  One 
World-process — Social  Phenomena  Distinctly  Psycliical  in  Char- 
acter— The  Science  of  Society  and  the  Freedom  of  the  Will. 

Sociology  has  not  been  Studied  by  Scientific  Methods. 
— Granted  that  social  phenomena  constitute  a  set  of  facts 
the  study  of  which  is  important,  and  that  the  study  of 
special  groups  of  social  phenomena  is  incomplete  unless 
supplemented  by  a  study  of  the  general  principles  of  life  in 
society,  the  question  still  remains  whether  the  study  of  these 
branches  can  be  prosecuted  in  a  genuinely  scientific  man- 
ner. In  its  fundamental  form  this  question  is  as  important 
for  economics  or  history  as  it  is  for  sociology,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  concerned  with  the  right  to  the  name  science  rather 
than  with  the  progress  which  any  one  of  these  studies  has 
already  made.  So  far  as  this  last  point  is  concerned,  it 
may  readily  be  granted  that  scarcely  any  of  the  study  of 
society  as  a  whole  deserves  to  be  called  scientific.  Ordi- 
narily it  has  been  a  practical  interest  which  has  directed 
men's  attention  to  this  object,  and  the  result  of  their  study 
has  been  an  embodiment  of  their  desires  and  aspirations  in 
the  account  of  a  No-man's  land.  And  if  the  thinker  felt 
metaphysically  inclined,  he  has  no  doubt  justified  his  pict- 

18 


CAN   SOCIOLOGY   BE  REGARDED  AS  A  SCIENCE?    19 

ure  by  adding  a  deductionjpf  it  from  his  metaphysical  prin- 
ciples. The  apparent  gravity  oithe  evils  to  be  remedied, 
the  difficulty  of  checking  results  and  of  proving  opinions 
erroneous,  and  in  particular  the  absence  of  data  on  which 
correct  conclusions  could  be  based — these  are  only  a  few  of 
the  factors  which  have  made  the  study  of  society  unpro- 
ductive. 

The  Character  of  Social  Phenomena. — The  answer  to  the 
question  whether  social  phenomena  can  be  studied  in  a  truly 
scientific  manner,  depends  on  the  character  assigned  to 
these  phenomena.  Are  they  a  distinct  set  of  facts,  a  definite 
field  for  definite  study  ?  Can  they  be  approached  by  essen- 
tially the  same  methods  by  which  knowledge  in  other  lines 
has  been  advanced  ?  And  are  they  subject  to  law,  part  of 
a  world  order,  or  are  they  capricious  events  which  can  only 
be  grasped  as  single  occurrences  ?  These  separate  questions 
as  to  the  field,  the  method,  and  the  nature  of  the  facts  must 
be  considered  separately. 

i.  The  Field  of  Sociology  as  a  Science. — The  first 
question,  then,  is  concerned  with  the  field  to  be  studied. 
Historically^  sciences  have  not  begun  by  defining  a  certain 
field,  dividing  it  up  and  proceeding  to  investigate  it  sys- 
tematically ;  but  scientific  character  can  only  be  predicated 
of  a  study  which  gradually  has  found  a  distinct  set  of  facts-4 
with  which  it  could  deal.  Astrology  became  astronomy 
when  it  discarded  the  great  mass  of  fable  concerning  the 
influence  of  the  stars  on  human  life,  and  confined  itself  to 
a  study  of  the  nature  and  relation  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 
As  physics  and  chemistry  have  become  the  sciences  which 
studied,  the  one  the  nature  and  relation  of  masses,  the  other 
the  nature  and  relation  of  the  qualitative  elements  of  which 
masses  are  composed,  so  at  length  biology  has  been  devel- 
oped, a  science  of  the  living  cell  and  of  the  relation  of  cells 
in  living  beings.  The  definite  sphere  of  biology  is  no 
longer  questioned,  even  though  on  the  one  hand  cells  are 
objects  which  physics  and  chemistry  study  from  their  own 
standpoint,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  such  descriptive  sciences 


20  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

as  botany  and  zoology  consider  living  beings  themselves 
from  another  point  of  view.  That  the  facts  of  conscious 
life  and  in  particular  of  human  life,  constitute  a  distinct 
field  of  study,  as  distinct  and  as  important  as  the  facts 
about  physical  masses,  cannot  be  questioned.  The  social 
sciences,  or  the  sciences  concerned  with  man,  deal  with  con- 
scious beings  and  the  relation  of  conscious  beings,  just  as 
chemistry  deals  with  atoms  and  the  relation  of  atoms.  The 
only  important  question  is  as  to  the  relation  of  the_flirtr1fic 
mental  social  science  to  particular  social  sciences,  and  this 
question  we  have  already  investigated,  with  the  following 
result :  Xhe  stu&y  of  any  one  branch  of  social  phenomena 
presupposes  a  theory  as  to  the  character  and  relation  of 
conscious  beings ;  this  general  theory  is  not  supplied  by 
any  particular  social  science,  but  it  is  the  task  of  sociology 
in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  term  to  investigate  this  sub- 
ject, and  to  formulate  our  knowledge  of  it.  If  the  consid- 
erations brought  forward  in  the  second  part  of  the  intro- 
duction are  correct,  sociology  has  a  definite  field  of  study, 
and  so  far  as  this  point  is  concerned  it  may  become  a 
science. 

This  definition  of  its  field  throws  out  much  that  has 
been  written  under  the  name  of  sociology.  The  great 
branches  of  Ethnology  and  Anthropology  have  been  dis- 
cussed as  sociology  j1  and  in  particular  the  study  of  primi- 
tive man  has  been  carried  on  under  this  name.2  They  are 
social  sciences,  but  they  are  not  concerned  with  primary 
facts  as  to  the  nature  and  relation  of  conscious  beings. 
The  study  of  such  institutions  as  the  state  and  the  family 
has  been  called  sociology.  In  so  far  as  this  study  is  purely 
historical,  the  use  of  the  name  might  be  questioned  ;  but 
the  gt.ndy^ftf-thn  nnacm  ilf^  n^,f jj  rg ^ofthese  institutions  deals 
wjfK  -f.Jigrelatifm  of  men,  and  forms  jm  iuiportari^  part  of 
apcin[ngy7  OrTthe  other  hand  all  the  questions  of  practi- 
cal reform  which  are  treated  under  the  name  of  sociology 

1  Spencer,  Descriptive  Sociology,  1873-1881. 
8  Letouraeau,  La  sociologie. 


CAN   SOCIOLOGY   BE   REGABDED   AS   A   SCIENCE?    21 

do  not  form  a  part  of  the  science  of  sociology  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term.  The  improvement  of  social  conditions 
is  by  far  the  most^  important  end  of  the  science  which 
studies  social  phenomena.  It  is,  however,  the  work  of  a 
science  to  study  facts  and  relations  as  they  exist,  and  the 
introduction  of  practical  questions  before  this  foundation 
has  been  laid,  is  both  disastrous  to  the  advance  of  the 
science  and  futile  so  far  as  the  practical  questions  them- 
selves are  concerned.1 

2.  The  Method  of  Sociology  as  a  Science. — The  second 
topic  to  be  considered  is  whether  social  phenomena  can  be 
studied  by  methods  which  deserve  to  be  called  scientific. 
It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  methods  of  one  science 
can  be  transferred  to  another  without  change.  Still  there 
is  a  sharp  line  between  the  exact  methods  employed  in  the 
sciences,  and  the  vague  and  uncertain  lines  that  are  fol- 
lowed by  popular  thought.  One  school  of  sociologists  use 
as  their  main  tool  for  dealing  with  social  phenomena  the 
analogy  between  a  society  and  an  animal  organism.  Apart 
from  any  question  as  to  the  validity  of  their  results,  it 
seems  to  me  impossible  to  maintain  that  the  use  of  general 
analogies  can  be  regarded  as  a  rigidly  scientific  method. 
Again,  there  seems  to  be  truth  in  M.  Tarde's  objection 2  to 
a  sociology  which  deals  in  general  statements  about  masses 
of  men.  Undoubtedly  we  can  point  out  some  distinct 
characteristics  of  the  French  as  a  people,  and  it  has  not 
been  difficult  for  writers  to  expatiate  on  the  nature  of  the 
female  sex ;  such  generalities  M.  Tarde  compares  to  a, 
classification  of  flowers  by  their  colors  or  by  the  number  of 
their  stamens.  If  the  method  of  sociology  has  not  been 
scientific,  we  may  well  ask  :  Is  it  possible  to  apply  gen- 
uine scientific  study  to  this  class  of  phenomena  ? 

Special  Methods  of  Particular  Sciences. — It  is  evident 
that  certain  forms  of  scientific  method  can  have  no  gen- 

1  This  question.is  discussed  more  fully  in  a  note  nt  the  end  of  this 
section  of  the  introduction,  p.  31,  infra. 
*  Social  Laws,  p.  48  sq. 


22  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

eral  application  in  sociology.  In  natural  science  the  use 
of  experiment  has  proved  an  invaluable  tool ;  by  varying 
the  conditions  of  the  same  process,  non-essential  factors 
can  be  eliminated,  and  the  relative  importance  of  those 
that  remain  can  be  accurately  estimated.  The  student  of 
sociology  is  practically  precluded  from  the  scientific  use  of 
experiments,  though  he  may  gain  much  information  from 
the  experiments  of  rash  social  "  reformers."  He  cannot 
isolate  his  phenomena  in  the  laboratory,  but  he  is  forced 
to  search  the  almost  unlimited  material  at  his  disposal  un- 
til he  finds  the  different  phases  of  the  process  he  is  study- 
ing in  actual  historical  occurrences.  Again,  the  method 
of  measurement  has  a  somewhat  limited  scope  in  sociology. 
A  method  of  first  importance  in  physics,  in  biology  it  al- 
most disappears,  and  in  sociology  it  finds  a  limited  use  in 
the  form  of  statistics.  The  importance  of  the  study  of 
statistics  can  ITafaly  be  overestimated,  and  yet  there  are 
many  social  problems  to  which  as  yet  it  is  quite  inapplica- 
ble. In  a  word  the  special  methods  of  other  sciences  ap- 
pear in  sociology  ;  at  the  same  time  we  are  not  justified  in 
arguing  that  the  study  of  social  phenomena  is,  or  is  not, 
scientific  by  the  fact  that  these  special  methods  have  only 
a  limited  application  here. 

Analysis,  Classification,  Induction — The  essential  char- 
acteristic of  scientific  method  is  that  it  analyzes,  and  class- 
ifies, and  by  induction  arrives  at  the  general  principles 
which  underlie  particular  cases.  Measurement  and  ex- 
periment are  simply  tools  to  this  end.  In  so  far  as  the 
student  of  social  phenomena  accurately  analyzes  the  facts 
at  his  disposal,  and  arrives  at  fundamental  principles 
with  reference  to  the  character  and  relations  of  conscious 
beings,  the  name  scientific  cannot  be  denied  to  his  method. 
That  he  has  been  able  to  accomplish  relatively  so  little  in 
this  direction  is  not  discouraging  when  the  newness  of  the 
science,  and  the  complexity  of  the  facts  it  studies,  are 
taken  into  consideration.  Every  science,  moreover,  has 
been  obliged  to  elaborate  the  particular  form  in  which  it 


OAK   SOCIOLOGY   BE   REGARDED    AS    A   SCIENCE?    23 

applies  the  general  method  of  science,  and  this  task  is  a 
slow  and  a  difficult  one  ;  accordingly,  we  need  not  be  sur- 
prised that  sociology  is  as  yet  in  the  tentative  stage,  and 
that  the  problems  of  life  in  society  are  attacked  in  very 
different  ways. 

In  the  consideration  of  the  problem  before  us,  viz.,  the 
scientific  character  of  sociology,  we  have  assumed  thus  far 
that  there  are  certain  general  principles  underlying  the 
association  of  conscious  beings.  By  social  facts,  we  have 
meant  not  simply  the  isolated  facts  of  history,  but  rather 
general  facts  as  to  the  nature  and  relation  of  men.  In 
other  words  we  have  assumed  that  social  phenomena,  like 
physical  phenomena,  exhibit  constant  elements  which  can 
be  expressed  as  laws,  and  which  constitute  a  part  of  the  so- , 
called  "order  of  nature."  For  physical  phenomena  a  sim- 
ilar assumption  seems  to  be  abundantly  justified  by  its  re- 
sults ;  for  social  phenomena  the  assumption  has  so  often 
been  disputed,  that  it  cannot  be  made  without  some  dis- 
cussion of  the  problems  that  it  raises. 

3.  The  Nature  of  Social  Phenomena. — The  third  ques- 
tion to  be  considered,  then,  has  to  do  with  the  prevalence 
of  natural  law  in  human  society.  This  question  is  by  no 
means  a  simple  one,  for  various  interests  are  involved  in 
it,  and  the  discussion  of  it  has  been  obscured  in  the  past 
by  great  looseness  in  the  use  of  terms.  Students  of  social 
phenomena  have  regarded  society  now  as  a  natural  order, 
now  as  a  moral  order,  so-called  ;  and  both  the  advocates 
and  the  opponents  of  the  naturalistic  view  have  confused 
the  subject  by  discussing  different  questions  under  one  and 
the  same  name. 

Human  Society  and  Natural  Law. — The  phrase  "  nat- 
ural order,"  when  applied  to  society,  properly  means  the 
interpretation  of  human  society  as  part  of  the  general 
order  of  nature  ;  and  except  for  the  continued  failure  to 
recognize  it,  we  should  hardly  think  it  necessary  to  add 
that  "nature"  should  be  used  to  mean  something  more 
than  physical,  material,  nature.  When  Aristotle  discusses 


24  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

the  different  types  of  state  as  he  finds  them,  and  attempts 
to  trace  the  order  of  their  development  and  the  causes  to 
which  each  is  due  ;  when  Montesquieu  finds  in  the  nature 
of  each  people  the  explanation  of  its  government  and  of 
the  character  of  its  laws  ;  or  when  historians  generally, 
following  the  course  marked  out  by  Lessing,  have  sought 
to  go  beyond  the  mere  transcript  of  events  and  to  explain 
them  by  causes, — it  has  been  the  constant  presupposition 
that  society  is  a  part  of  the  order  of  nature.  Nor  would 
the  question  seem  complex  except  for  the  great  variety  of 
misconceptions  to  which  it  has  given  rise.  I  need  only 
remind  the  reader  of  a  few  of  these. 

Natural  Law  as  "  Jus  Naturale." — Earliest,  and  per- 
haps first  in  importance,  was  the  conception  of  a  jus 
naturals,  which  was  afterward  so  deeply  modified  by  the 
Stoic  conception  of  life.  In  this  connection  natural  law 
came  to  mean  law  that  was  universally  binding,  simple, 
reasonable — the  remaining  fragments  of  the  "  law  "  of  the 
golden  age.  To  this  theory,  which  influenced  so  pro- 
foundly the  later  developments  of  Roman  law,  may  bo 
traced  the  use  of  the  word  natural  as  equivalent  both  to 
primitive  and  to  ideal.  This  current  of  thought  was  at 
its  maximum  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  in  the  person 
of  Rousseau.  Thinkers  placed  their  ideal  in  the  past,  and 
assigning  it  universal  authority  they  sought  to  institute 
the  golden  age  once  more  by  the  very  simple  method  of 
retrogression.  In  this  state  of  nature  men  were  free,  for 
no  tyrants  had  as  yet  risen  to  oppress  them ;  they  were 
equal,  for  social  differences  had  not  yet  had  opportunity 
to  arise  and  corrupt  the  simple  life.  Even  to-day  "  nat- 
ural "  law  suggests  an  absolute  order  based  on  principles 
of  reason,1  although  this  order  may  not  be  projected  into 
the  past.  It  still  suggests  that  there  is  one  definite  "  best " 
type,  to  which  society  ought  to  conform.  When  the  word 
natural  is  used  to  mean  that  society  is  a  part  of  nature, 
and  so  an  object  of  scientific  study,  it  is  still  necessary 
1  Maine,  Ancient  Law,  p.  87. 


SOCIOLOGY   BE   REGARDED  AS   A   SCIENCE?    25 

to  repudiate  this  old  meaning  that  was  once  attached 
to  it. 

Natural  Law  as  Physical  Law. — Nor  should  the  word 
natural  be  understood  as  referring  particularly  to  physical 
nature.  The  attention  paid  to  physical  science  during  the 
present  century,  and  the  wonderful  results  with  which  this 
study  has  been  rewarded,  have  tended  to  crowd  out  the 
sciences  dealing  with  man,  or  to  reduce  them  to  physical 
sciences.  Science,  in  the  minds  of  many,  has  come  to  be 
equivalent  to  physical  science,  natural  law  to  physical  law  ; 
to  such,  the  study  of  society  as  a  natural  order  seems  to 
mean  the  explanation  of  society  from  physical  forces,  as 
for  example  climate,  without  reference  to  psychical  facts. 
There  is  a  justifiable  treatment  of  social  phenomena  from 
the  physical  standpoint,  but  writers  who  in  so  doing  would 
neglect  the  psychical  side  of  social  life  in  their  study  of 
the  physical,  are  guilty  of  deserting  higher  truth  for  what 
would  be  a  lower  truth  if  it  were  not  put  where  it  becomes 
error.  It  lias  been  wisely  remarked J  that  when  the  scien- 
tific concept  "nature  "  is  extended  to  include  social  facts, 
the  meaning  of  this  concept  is  also  extended.  The  facts 
of  social  life  we  know  as  it  were  from  inside,  so  that  they 
cannot  be  placed  on  the  same  plane  as  facts  in  the  exter- 
nal world  of  sense.2 

Natural  Law  as  Mechanical  Law — Connected  with 
this  interpretation  of  natural  law  as  physical  law,  is 
the  belief  that  in  a  natural  order  the  course  of  events  is 
determined  without  reference  to  any  activity  of  mind. 
The  mechanism  of  physical  nature  is  what  it  is,  and  it 
does  not  inevitably  suggest  the  presence  of  intelligence 
or  of  will ;  consequently  a  natural  order  of  society  is 
interpreted  as  a  social  order  existing  as  it  is,  and  inde- 
pendent of  mind.  It  is  assumed  that  fatalism  is  the  out- 

1  Bernes,  Revue  d'economie  politique,  March,  1894. 

2  In  treating  society  as  a  part  of  nature,  and  the  laws  of  its  activity 
as  natural  laws,  I  am  far  from  endorsing  the  method  of  Quetelet  and 
Buckle  aa  the  true  way  to  study  society. 


26  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

come  of  naturalism,  and  in  the  social  sciences  this  fatalism 
has  been  made  the  basis  of  a  very  emphatic  laissez-faire, 
for  natural  order  has  been  interpreted  as  meaning  an  order 
that  is  both  necessary,  and  the  best  attainable.  Beyond 
question,  a  natural  order  is  one  that  cannot  be  changed  by 
mere  wishes,  or  reversed  by  some  new  bit  of  legislation. 
^The  natural  laws  of  society  are  simply  the  modes  of  activity 
•  necessary  to  attain  ends,) they  are  not  prescriptions  of  duty 
coming  from  a  law-making  power  and  changeable  at  the 
will  of  such  a  power.  It  is  difficult  to  apply  the  words 
good  and  bad  to  the  order  of  nature,  nor  is  this  order 
necessary  in  the  ordinary  use  of  the  word  ;  it  is  necessary 
in  that  man  cannot  change  it,  good  in  that  man  can  use 
it — the  basis  of  social  development,  not  the  denial  of  all 
development.  It  is  not  fatalistic,  for  it  is  the  basis  re- 
•  quired  for  intelligent  activity,  that,  by  means,  of  which  a 
mind  can  accomplish  its  ends  ;  it  certainly  is  not  an  order 
such  that  human  society  must  remain  as  it  is,  such  that  a 
reformer  is  an  absurdity,  and  a  new  invention  a  crime. 
A  fixed  order  and  fixed  unchanging  laws  in  the  world  of 
physical  nature  are,  though  men  have  been  slow  enough 
to  learn  it,  the  very  foundation  of  human  intelligence. 
Perhaps  the  most  potent  factor  in  all  human  progress  has 
been  the  patient,  earnest  investigation  of  these  laws,  which 
has  made  the  forces  of  nature  subservient  to  human  ends. 
The  only  secure  basis  for  social  progress  lies  in  the  recog- 
nition of  natural  law  in  the  social  world  ;  when  such  laws 
are  sought  out  and  discovered,  then  man  can  utilize  them 
for  his  advancement.  Natural  laws,  I  repeat,  do  not  as- 
sign duties,  but  they  explain  consequences — and  the  belief 
in  a  natural  order  is  a  belief  that  these  consequences  do 
follow  the  actions,  in  spite  of  any  amount  of  wishing  or 
legislating.  /  The  fatalism  which  the  phrase  has  suggested 
both  to  the  opponents  and  the  advocates  of  this  belief,  is  an 
unjustifiable  addition  of  an  element  wholly  foreign  to  it. 

Natural  Law  and  a  Mechanics  of  Self-interest. — I 
will  mention  but  one  other  wrong  meaning  which  may  be 


CAN  SOCIOLOGY  BE  REGARDED  AS  A  SCIENCE  3  27 

attached  to  the  phrase  "  natural  order,"  viz.,  it  has  often 
suggested  a  social  mechanics  based  on  pure  self-interest, 
or  on  some  other  equally  simple  motive.  ^The  truth  is 
that  the  easiest  way  to  form  a  mechanics  of  society,  is  to 
take  one  simple  and  universal  motive,  and  neglect  all 
other  motives  to  action.)  This  course  has  often  been  pur- 
sued, and  most  systems  of  social  mechanics  are  open  to 
the  charge  of  unfair  abstractness  and  one-sidedness.  Such 
a  charge  becomes  really  serious  only  when  these  systems 
claim  to  be  something  other  than  they  are,  only  when 
their  advocates  forget  that  they  are  partial,  and  are  suited 
only  for  the  partial  purpose  with  which  they  were  formed. 
When  they  come  to  be  regarded  as  true  and  complete 
statements  of  social  phenomena,  then  they  are  evidently 
false  ;  and  the  conclusions  which  are  drawn  from  them 
when  so  regarded,  run  the  risk  of  being  very  pernicious. 
The  study  of  society  as  a  part  of  nature  does  not  mean 
that  the  facts  of  social  life  are  to  be  sacrificed  to  a  con- 
venient abstraction. 

The  so-called  Moral  Order  of  Society. — By  reason  of  the 
errors  which  have  been  associated  with  the  phrases  "  natu- 
ral law"  and  "natural  order,"  there  has  arisen  a  habit  of 
finding  the  basis  of  society  in  a  moral  order  as  contrasted 
with  a  natural  order.1  The  phrase  "  moral  order,"  when 
used  to  denote  this  contrast,  seems  to  me  neither  a  clear 
nor  a  happy?one.  It  has  found  its  justification  mainly 
as  an  attack  on  some  of  the  erroneous  views  which  had 
attached  themselves  to  the  conception  of  a  natural  order. 
For  example,  laying  stress  on  the  fact  of  progress,  the 
advocates  of  this  position  have  claimed  that  society  could 
be  made  better  in  the  future,  as  it  has  been  made  better 
in  the  past,  even  to  the  extent  of  a  social  revolution  ; 
and  they  have  forgotten  that  in  nature,  too,  there  is  prog- 
ress — that  we  seem  to  find  revolutions  even  in  nature. 
Laying  stress  on  the  presence  of  mind  as  the  very  basis 
of  social  life,  they  have  forgotten  that  mind  also  is  a  part 

1  V.  Cohn,  System  der  Nationalokonomie,  I.  356  sqq. 


i 


28  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

of  nature  without  which  organic  nature,  at  least,  cannot 
be  understood.  They  have  said  that  civilization  means  the 
conquest  of  nature,  and  progress  the  gradual  subjection 
of  nature  to  human  ends ;  that  the  characteristic  feature 
of  human  society  is  not  its  obedience  to  natural  law,  but 
the  fact  that  nature  has  been  overcome ;  that  natural  free- 
dom is  a  contradiction  in  terms,  for  freedom  depends  on  a 
moral  order.  In  bringing  to  light  the  errors  which  have 
lurked  behind  the  words  natural  order,  and  in  emphasizing 
the  place  of  psychical  life  as  the  very  essence  of  human  so- 
ciety, the  advocates  of  this  view  have  done  good  service. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  consider  their  position  in  greater 
detail,  for  I  only  wish  to  show  that,  as  an  antithesis  to  the 
idea  of  a  natural  order,  the  idea  of  society  as  a  moral  order 
is  due  to  a  misapprehension~Uf  what  is  meant  by  a  natural 
order.  Nothing  has  been  brought  forward  by  those  who 
prefer  the  term  moral,  which  is  inconsistent  with  the 
"naturalistic"  view  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term. 

The  Scientific  Study  of  Social  Phenomena. — I  reach  the 
conclusion  that  the  objections  to  the  study  of  society  as  a 
part  of  nature  do  not  hold  good,  if  <l  nature "  is '  rightly 
understood.  In  so  far  asr  social  phenomena  are  subject  to 
natural  law,  science  can  use  essentially  the  same  methods  in 
dealing  with  them  as  in  dealing  with  physical  phenomena/ 
Very  much  the  same  conclusion  has  been  reached  in  the 
actual  prosecution  of  the  social  sciences.  History,  politics, 
the  study  of  institutions,  have  proceeded  on  the  supposi- 
tion that  the  phenomena  studied  by  each,  respectively, 
were  subject  to  law,  and  the  main  work  of  these  sciences 
has  been  to  discover  the  natural  sequence  of  events  under 
law  in  their  different  fields.  At  the  same  time,  the  pre- 
supposition has  often  been  overlooked  or  denied,  and  it  is 
part  of  the  work  of  sociology  to  determine  the  exact  place 
of  natural  law  in  the  social  sciences. 

Society  as  Part  of  the  One  World-Process. — Science  and 
philosophy  unite  in  making  the  postulate  that  the  world 
is  one.  Necessary  as  this  postulate  seems  to  be,  it  cannot 


CAN   SOCIOLOGY   BE   REGARDED   AS   A   SCIENCE?    29 

be  proved,  for  even  the  proof  of  the  conservation  of  energy, 
the  proof  that  the  world  is  one  definite  mechanical  system, 
presupposes  it.  Modern  science  starts  from  it,  and  finds 
that  it  has  a  single,  somewhat  distinct  task,  because  this  is 
one  world,  in  all  parts  of  which  the  same  laws  act  in  the 
same  manner.  The  world  is  studied  as  one  process  ;  this 
study  is  science,  and  each  single  science  is  the  study  of 
some  part  of  the  world-process,  or  the  study  of  it  from 
some  particular  standpoint.  I  see  no  reason  to  deny  that 
society  is  a  part  of  this  order  of  nature,  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  world-process,  which  has  only  been  attained 
after  ages  of  preparation.  In  society,  natural  forces  are  ' 
at  work,  and  they  are  subject  to  natural  law,  although 
these  forces  and  this  law  have  risen  to  a  higher  plane  of 
manifestation  than  the  physical.  The  science  of  society, 
and  the  various  sciences  of  social  phenomena,  are  sciences 
because  they  study  phases  of  the  world  as  it  is — or  rather 
as  it  is  developing.  The  position  that  society  is  a  part  of 
nature,  and  so  may  be  studied-  by  means  of  scientific  meth- 
ods, is  not  one  to  be  proved  by  deductive  logic.  It  is  sim-  * 
ply  the  postulate  on  which  alone  social  phenomena  can  be 
comprehended ;  but,  when  rightly  understood,  I  think 
that  habit  will  be  the  only  obstacle  to  its  acceptance. 

Social  Phenomena  are  distinctly  Psychical  in  Character. 
— In  bringing  sucl^a  conception  before  the  reader,  I  think 
it  necessary  to  point  out  once  more  the  fact  that  the  social 
phenomena,  which  I  would  include  in  nature,  are  distinctly 
psychical  in  their  character,  t  Man's  mind  is  connected  in 
a  wonderful  way  with  his  brain  ;  and,  similarly,  the  psy- 
chical life  of  society  has  a  physical  basis  in  the  race  and  its 
environment!  In  each  case,  the  study  of  the  physical  is 
external  and  comparatively  crude  ;  the  essential  nature  of 
the  phenomena  is  evident  only  when  they  are  studied  as 
psychical  in  their  character.  I  The  determining  feature  of 
a  social  group  is  its  psychical  life,  in  a  broad  sense  of  the 
term,  its  civilization  ;  the  different  modes  of  social  activity 
are  $.0  many  forms  of  psychical  activity  ;  the  development 


30  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

of  society  is  the  evolution  of  reason.     The  natural  order 
which  sociology  studies  is  in  the  realm  of  psychical  life. 

The  Science  of  Society  and  the  Freedom  of  the  Will. — 
When  this  position  is  thus  understood,  the  main  obstacle 
to  its  acceptance  is  the  habit  of  holding  a  crude  view  of 
the  freedom  of  the  will.  This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss 
such  a  vexed  question,  but  perhaps  I  can  indicate  three 
lines  along  which  the  student  of  society  will  justify  him- 
self in  assuming  that  society  is  a  part  of  nature,  and  that 
social  phenomena,  including  the  phenomena  of  volition, 
are  subject  to  law.  (I)  Although  this  position  is  inconsis- 
tent with  the  common  belief  in  indeterminism,  viz.,  the 
belief  that  the  will  is  controlled  by  motives  only  in  part, 
the  student  will  remember  that  this  common  belief  deserves 
to  be  called  a  popular  theory  rather  than  a  practical  belief, 
that  it  is  at  variance  both  with  the  carefully  considered 
theories  of  the  scientist  and  with  the  practical  belief  of  all 
classes.  A  man  may  claim  for  himself  the  power  to  act 
with  sovereign  caprice,  but  even  he  seeks  to  influence  his 
neighbors  by  rational  motives,  even  he  finds  that  there  are 
laws  applying  to  human  action.  (2)  Farther,  the  student 
will  perceive  that  the  position  here  advocated  is  the  very 
opposite  of  fatalism.  It  does  not  exclude  mind  from  nat- 
ure ;  it  does  not  assert  that  some  outside  power  determines 
a  man's  life  for  him  ;  the  very  object  proposed  for  study 
is  the  manner  in  which  a  mind  works  out  its  ends  in  its 
environment.  From  this  standpoint  reason  is  the  power 
to  realize  ends;  society  wins  the  student's  interest  and 
claims  his  study  because  social  life  is  the  activity  of  reason 
working  itself  out  in  nature.  (3)  He  will  follow  recent 
defenders  of  this  position 1  in  the  recognition  that  freedom 
from  lower  impulses,  the  power  to  feel  noble  impulses  and 
to  achieve  noble  results,  the  sense  of  responsibility  and  of 
duty,  are  all  of  them  social  phenomena,  which  could  not 
exist  apart  from  society.  He  will  see  that  true  practical 

1  Riehl,  Der  Philosophischer  Kriticismus,  II.  2,  §§  216-280.     (Eiig. 
tr.,  Theory  of  Science  and  Metaphysics,  p.  206  sqq.) 


CAN   SOCIOLOGY   BE   REGARDED   AS   A   SCIENCE?    31 

freedom  is  inconsistent  with  the  popular  theory  of  freedom. 
Such,  I  believe,  are  some  of  the  lines  along  which  the  stu- 
dent of  society  will  attempt  to  show  that  while  the  phe- 
nomena of  volition  are  subject  to  law,  still  responsibility  is 
not  destroyed  and  morals  are  not  overthrown. 

NOTE  ON  SOCIAL  SCIENCE  AND  SOCIAL  PHILOSOPHY 

It  is  often  said  that  science  deals  with  the  facts  given  in 
experience,  describing  them,  classifying  them,  and  seeking  in 
them  general  laws  ;  while  philosophy  studies  that  which  ex- 
perience presupposes,  the  postulates  which  underlie  it  and  the 
goals  or  ideals  that  ought  to  be  realized  in  it.  Science  is  em- 
pirical and  objective ;  it  studies  that  which  is.  Philosophy 
has  a  more  subjective  and  a  nobler  task  ;  it  seeks  the  meaning 
for  man  of  that  which  is,  it  seeks  the  ends  which  man  ought 
to  make  real  in  his  world.  On  the  basis  of  this  definition 
everybody  is  a  philosopher,  while  the  scientific  man  is  a  late 
and  rare  development  on  our  planet ;  the  world  received 
philosophical  interpretation  long  before  there  was  any  dawn 
of  science.  And  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  emancipation  of 
science  from  the  metaphysical  method  must  have  been  a  slow 
task.  The  physical  sciences  succeeded  in  asserting  this  free- 
dom first,  and  only  in  our  own  day  have  psychology  and  logic 
and  ethics  been  able  to  secure  any  degree  of  freedom  from 
metaphysics.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  science  of 
sociology  has  passed  the  metaphysical  stage  ;  for  a  true  phi- 
losophy of  society  can  only  arise  on  the  basis  of  the  science  of 
society. 

But  in  advocating  the  study  of  social  relations  as  they 
exist,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  cast  any  discredit  either  on 
the  study  of  the  ultimate  principles  which  underlie  human 
society,  or  on  the  study  of  the  ends  which  may  be  realized  ia 
society.  _The  seientiflcstudy  of  the  evolution  of  societyjgiYejL. 
some  clew  to  the  next  stage  of  social  evolution,  but  it  is  hardly 
faiFtoTcall  any"  such  foreshadowed  future  state  a  social  ideal. 
*Pho  ooiciice  uf  socle  ly^jujiie  uarfowlsense  oflfietenn  whicfi* 
I  "Have  biiggetj(M7~gives  data_byjwhieh  I  may  pronounce  the 
new  form  of  society  to  be  better  or  worse  than  those  form* 
wfrlcb^have  preceded  ;   but  it  contains  no  "ought"  and  in 
itself  it  lays  ncT  duties  on  any  state  or  any  church  to  bring  in 
the  future.     The  science  studying  facts  and  laws  is,  however, 


32  INTEODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

the  source  of  our  knowledge  as  to  the  results  of  action,  so  that 
it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  individual's  effort  to  discover 
true  ideals  and  righ^  rules  of  life  in  society.  The  study  of  the 
ends  of  which  I  ought  to  seek  the  realization  in  society,  is  all- 
important,  or  dangerous  nonsense,  according  as  it  has  or  has 
not  a  broad  foundation  and  a  true  method.  The  confusion  of 
maxims  of  social  action  with  the  scientific  study  of  society, 
together  with  the  use  of  the  crude  beginnings  of  social  science 
as  programs  for  the  renovation  of  society,  has  already  cast 
great  discredit  on  sociology.  After  the  science  of  sociology 
has  found  solid  basis  in  the  study  of  social  life  as  it  is,  the  in- 
dividual may  depend  on  these  results  to  guide  his  desires  and 
his  hopes.  Rules  of  action  and  ideals  which  lack  this  founda- 
tion can  have  no  permanent  value.1 

Just  as  the  study  of  social  ideals  assumes  its  proper  place  on 
the  basis  of  a  careful  science  of  society,  so  the  meaning  of  so- 
cial relations,  and  the  ultimate  explanation  of  that  process  of 
nature  which  the  science  studies,  can  only  be  reached  on  the 
same  basis.  For  example,  the  scientist  studies  conscience  as  it 
is  and  as  it  has  arisen  ;  he  shows  that  it  is  a  social  fact,  existing 
only  in  and  through  social  relations,  and  arising  only  through 
the  intercourse  of  man  with  man  and  of  group  with  group  ; 
to  introduce  the  question  of  its  essential  validity,  or  its  ulti- 
mate source,  would  interfere  with  the  successful  prosecution 
of  his  task.  The  scientist  takes  the  same  attitude  toward  the 
fundamental  truths  of  mathematics  and  of  logic,  toward  ideals 
of  the  beautiful,  toward  religious  beliefs.  In  each  case  the 
first  question  to  be  considered  is  the  scientific  question  as  to  the 
facts  themselves,  the  question  :  What  are  the  phenomena,  and 
in  what  manner  did  they  come  into  existence  ?  and  the  investi- 
gation of  this  question  is  only  confused  and  hindered  wlien 
purely  philosophic  considerations  are  introduced  into  the  dis- 
cussion. The  separation  of  these  two  modes  of  investigation 
is  as  important  for  philosophy  and  religion  as  it  is  for  science. 
The  scientist  may  assert  that  the  ideas  of  time  and  space, 
norms  of  the  beautiful,  the  conscience,  are  social  products ; 
the  philosopher  and  the  religious  believer  may  answer,  This 
is  not  only  untrue  but  absurd.  But  unless  the  scientist  has 
gone  beyond  his  proper  sphere,  he  only  means  that  he  finds  in 
the  study  of  social  development  a  complete  and  satisfactory 
account  of  the  manner  in  which  these  ideas  arose  ;  the  philos- 

1  Cf .  Wilson,  "  The  Place  of  Social  Philosophy,"  Journal  of  Social 
Science,  xxxii. ,  Nov.,  1894. 


CAN   SOCIOLOGY   BE   REGARDED   AS   A   SCIENCE?    33 

opher  and  the  believer  are  at  liberty  to  interpret  the  meaning 
of  these  ideas  as  they  find  reason  to.  Let  the  two  modes  of 
investigation  be  kept  separate,  and  the  ret  ults  of  each  will  be 
of  greatest  importance  to  the  other. 

This  careful  limitation  of  the  task  of  sociology  has  been 
made  necessary  by  the  large  claims  made  upon  it,  and  by 
the  misunderstandings  to  which  it  has  given  rise.  If  stu- 
dents of  social  relations  are  to  form  true  ideals  of  a  better 
state  of  society,  if  they  are  to  discover  the  real  causes  of  ab- 
normal social  conditions,  and  if  they  are  to  be  successful  in 
modifying  these  causes  for  the  better,  then  patient,  critical, 
apparently  unsympathetic  investigation  must  first  prepare 
the  way.  If  the  philosopher  would  penetrate  the  last  secrets 
of  the  universe,  *nd,  reaching  forward,  would  interpret  the 
world  in  terms  or  a  goal  yet  to  be  attained,  he  cannot  afford 
to  neglect  any  of  the  data  which  science  can  furnish.  Science 
may  seem  to  be  sapping  the  roots  of  religion  when  it  tells  the 
story  of  creation  and  leaves  out  the  Creator ;  and  the  "scien- 
tific theist, "  the  Christian  evolutionist,  and  the  Christian 
sociologist  hasten  forward  to  the  rescue  of  God.  But  the 
reign  of  natural  law  suggests  a  nobler  conception  of  God  than 
the  belief  in  a  semi-divine  chance  ;  and  if  evolution  is  the  last 
word  of  science,  it  is  a  little  more  knowledge  as  to  the  way 
God  works.  Modern  science  is  non-philosophical  in  order 
that  the  scientist  may  be  a  true  philosopher  ;  it  is  non- 
religious,  in  order  that  the  scientist  may  have  a  true  religious 
faith. 


IV 

THE  DIVISIONS  OF  SOCIOLOGY 

Social  Statics  and  Social  Dynamics — Three  Main  Divisions :  I.  The 
Nature  of  a  Society;  II.  Functions  and  "Organs"  of  Society; 
III.  Social  Development. 

Social  Statics  and  Social  Dynamic*— According  to 
Comte  the  main  divisions  of  sociology  as  a  science  corre- 
spond to  the  divisions  of  physics,  i.e.,  they  will  be  Social 
Statics  and  Social  Dynamics.  Comte  himself,  however, 
used  these  terms  to  mean  something  very  different  from 
what  they  mean  in  physics  :  under  Social  Statics  he  in- 
cluded the  study  of  functions  and  organs  in  the  life  of 
society  at  the  present  time,  while  Social  Dynamics  desig- 
nated the  history  of  society  in  the  past,  and  the  forecast  of 
its  future.  Comte's  division  has  not  been  without  influ- 
ence in  France  ;  the  divisions,  however,  are  external  to  the 
nature  of  the  subject,  and  the  names  are  used  quite  inac- 
curately when  applied  as  Comte  himself  intended,  so  that 
this  method  may  be  discarded  without  further  discussion. 

Three  Main  Divisions. — In  the  analysis  of  social  phe- 
nomena three  questions  appear,  to  each  of  which  a  careful 
answer  is  necessary :  (1)  What  is  the  general  nature  of  a 
society,  and  how  does  it  differ  from  any  mere  class  of  in- 
dividual men  ?  (2)  What  are  the  important  forms  of 
social  activity,  and  the  peculiar  types  of  social  groups 
which  appear  in  each  form  ?  And  (3),  What  is  the  nature 
of  the  process  by  which  societies  develop  ?  The  answers  to 
these  three  questions  will  constitute  the  three  main  divis- 
ions under  which  the  subject-matter  of  the  science  of  soci- 
ology will  be  presented. 


THE   DIVISIONS   OF   SOCIOLOGY  35 

I.  THE  NATURE  OF  A  SOCIETY. — The  first  question  to 
which  we  desire  an  answer  is  the  question  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  object  to  be  studied.     What  is  a  society  ?    The  first, 
and  perhaps  the  simplest,  answers  have  been  given  by 
comparing  a  society  to  objects  that  are  better  understood. 
There  is  some  analogy  between  a  society  and  a  simple  con- 
tract, for  in  each  case  the  unity  of  the  group  and  the  sep- 
arate individuality  of  the  members  of  the  group  may  be 
clearly  seen.     Again  there  is  an  interesting  analogy  be- 
tween a  society  and  an  animal  organism  ;  the  comparison 
of  the  two  brings  out  some  facts  as  to  the  essential  nature 
of  a  society,  which  it  might  be  difficult  to  grasp  without 
the  use  of  this  ligure.     Both  these  lines  of  investigation, 
however,  are  concerned  with  mere  analogy,  and  no  real 
science  can  be  built  up  on  such  a  foundation.     Casting 
aside  these  helps  which  sociology  has  used  in  its  infancy,  we 
note  first  that  the  society  or  social  group  has  a  physical  life 
of  its  own  ;  it  is  in  a  physical  environment,  and  the  phys- 
ical fact  of  heredity  gives  a  definite  character  to  the  race 
which  lives  in  that  environment.     And  yet  as  the  word 
society  o,r  association  indicates,  we  recognize  that  the  true 
unity  of  a  social  group  is*  not  reached  by  a  study  of  the 
physical  side  alone  ;  it  is  a  psychical  fact,  and  as  such  it 
depends  on  man's  delight  in  the  companionship  of  his 
fellows,  and  on,  his  power  to  join  his  fellows  in  common 
activity.     The  phrase  "social  mind"  is  a  convenient  one 
to  denote  the  psychical  life  which  is  gradually  developed 
in  the  group,  and  in* which  lies  the  true  unity  of  the 
group. 

II.  FUNCTIONS  AND  "  ORGANS  "  OF  SOCIETY. — The  at- 
tempt has  often  been  made  to  classify  social  groups  empj-r- 
ically,  and  the  results  are  most  varied.     In  examining  the 
nature  of  the  social  group,  however,  it  becomes  evident  that 
the  character  of  sucTi  groups  corresponds  to  the  different 
types  of  social  activity,  i.e.,  that  the  classification  of  social 
groups  will  depend  on  the  classification  of  the  social  activ- 
ities.    To  classify  the  modes  of  social  activity,  and  the 


36  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

stimuli  or  causes  of  each  mode  of  activity,  is  a  compar- 
atively simple  task  ;  and  from  this  standpoint  we  may 
classify  also  institutions,  which  are  hardly  more  than  habits 
of  social  activity,  and  the  groups  or  organs  which  are  de- 
veloped in  the  course  of  these  activities.  Some  of  these 
groups  require  further  study.  The  science  of  economics 
discusses  the  industrial  organization  of  society.  In  partic- 
ular, the  family  and  the  state  are  groups  the  study  of 
which  throws  much  light  on  the  general  structure  of  soci- 
ety, as  well  as  on  many  problems  which  seem  to  open  be- 
fore society  to-day.  Finally,  the  student  is  in  a  position  to 
Jxietermine  the  meaning  of  the  individual  personality  from 
the  standpoint  of  sociology,  and  to  understand  the  place 
of  the  individual  in  social  life  and  growth. 

III.  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT. — The  third  great  problem  of 
sociology  is  the  question  of  social  evolution  ;  and  this  in- 
cludes both  a  general  description  of  the  development  of 
society  and  of  the  processes  going  on  in  this  development, 
and  also  a  discussion  of  the  causes  and  laws  which  govern 
it.  Viewed  in  a  somewhat  external  way,  the  process  of 
social  evolution  presents  two  general  characteristics  : — (a) 
the  principle  of  continuity  in  the  midst  of  change,  and  (b) 
what  Mr.  Spencer  calls  the  law  of  progress,  i.e.,  the  fact  that 
social  elements  at  first  separate  but  not  different  in  kind, 
gradually  become  less  separate  and  at  the  same  time  essen- 
tially different  in  function  and  character.  In  the  general 
course  of  evolution,  analysis  finds  two  processes,  each  of 
which  has  been  put  forward  as  a  theory  of  development : — 
(a)  the  process  of  dispersion  and  differentiation,  and  (b)  the 
process  of  agglomeration  and  gradual  unification .qf  social 
groups  into  larger  and  more  complex  unities.  .;35ach  of 
these  processes  is  found  to  be  going  on  in  the  development 
of  society,  but  neither  of  them  can  be  treated  as  a  theory 
which  explains  this  development.  Farther  light  oii4.th^ 
matter  is  to  be  gained  by  a  study  of  the  principle  of  nat- 
ural selection.  This  principle  which  furnishes  the  key  to 
biological  evolution,  must  be  tested  in  the  sphere  of  social 


THE   DIVISIONS   OF  SOCIOLOGY  37 

evolution.  The  units  of  social  struggle  must  be  deter- 
mined, the  types  of  struggle  defined,  its  effect  on  those 
that  survive  and  those  that  perish  examined  ;  in  particular 
the  differences  between  the  working  of  this  law  in  the 
biological  and  in  the  social  sphere  deserve  to  be  carefully 
noted.  The  biological  principle  as  such  does  not  explain 
social  evolution  ;  but  along  this  line,  if  anywhere,  is  to  be 
found  the  key  to  the  'development  of  society. 


PART  I 

CONCERNING   THE   NATURE  OF  A   SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  I 

SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  A  CONTRACT 

The  Analogy  between  a  Society  and  a  Contract— The  Social  Contract 
Theory  is  a  Common-sense  Theory — Political  Influence  of  the 
Social  Contract  Theory — The  Form  of  the  Theory  to  he  consid- 
ered— The  Nature  of  a  Business  Contract — The  Contract  Principle 
in  Other  Relations — Marriage  as  a  Contract — The  State  as  a  Con- 
tract— The  Authority  of  a  Contract-state — The  Principle  of  Con- 
tract Imperfect. 

TlHK  Analogy  between  a  Society  and  a  Contract — Truths :  1.  Society 
is  an  Organization  Controlling  its  Members.  2.  This  Control  is 
definitely  Limited.  3.  The  Relation  of  Individual  and  Group. 

Errors :  The  Contract  Theory  suggests  some  False  Ideas  of 
Society.  1.  This  Theory  neglects  Other  Social  Bonds.  2.  It 
Emphasizes  the  Individual  Unduly.  It  Treats  the  Individual  as 
something  Separate  from  Society* 

The  Analogy  between  a  Society  and  a  Contract — The 
term  "social  contract,"  made  familiar  in  literature  and  in 
scientific  thought  by  the  great  work  of  Rousseau,  stands 
for  one  important  theory  of  the  nature  of  society.  Stated 
baldly  this  theory  may  be  outlined  as  follows  :  Man  is  a 
self-contained  individual  in  his  mind  as  he  is  in  his  body. 
As  such  he  is  by  nature  independent  of  other  individuals, 
and  free  to  exercise  his  powers  in  any  way  he  chooses.  He 
is  known  to  us,  however,  only  as  a  member  of  society ;  and 
this  society  surrounds  him  with  all  manner  of  restrictions, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  confers  upon  him  privileges  of 

31 


40  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

social  intercourse  and  opens  to  him  the  possibility  of  co- 
operation in  the  pursuit  of  those  ends  which  his  own 
nature  impels  him  to  realize.  On  these  presuppositions 
the  facts  of  social  and  political  life  are  most  naturally  ex- 
plained after  the  analogy  of  a  contract.  When  two  parties 
enter  upon  a  contract  they  agree  to  set  certain  limitations 
to  their  own  activities,  and  to  co-operate  in  the  pursuit  of 
ends  which  they  think  two  can  secure  together  better 
than  either  alone.  So  the  relation  of  men  in  a  society 
which  imposes  restrictions  on  the  individual  and  opens 
new  opportunities  for  his  activity,  is  very  naturally  re- 
garded as  a  social  contract,  a  contract  involving  all  the 
members  of  a  given  society.  The  restrictions,  according 
to  this  explanation,  are  self-imposed,  the  opportunities  are 
self -chosen  and  the  bond  of  social  union  is  essentially  a 
matter  of  the  individual  will.  Of  course  the  writers  who 
have  propounded  and  advocated  this  theory  do  not  mean 
that  society  originated  in  a  distinct  act  of  contract,  or  in  a 
series  of  such  acts  ;  the  so-called  contract  is  a  historical 
fiction,  invented  to  explain  the  facts  as  they  appear  when 
society  is  made  an  object  of  investigation.  The  present 
chapter  is  not  the  place  for  a  history  of  this  theory  nor  for 
any  extended  examination  of  it ;  I  propose  rather  so  to  set 
it  before  the  reader  and  criticise  it,  that  he  may  see  some- 
thing of  its  social  importance. 

The  Social  Contract  Theory  is  a  Common-sense  Theory. 
— Before  going  on  to  show  how  reasonable  this  theory  is, 
and  to  point  out  some  of  the  truths  and  some  of  the  errors 
involved  in  it,  I  may  fittingly  call  the  attention  of  the 
reader  to  its  general  character  and  influence.  And  first  it 
is  pre-eminently  a  common-sense  theory.  Like  the  so-called 
common-sense  philosophy  it  interprets  the  facts  which  it 
finds  in  terms  of  a  simple  working  principle  which  does 
not  tax  the  understanding  of  anyone.  To  bring  all  the 
meaning  of  the  facts  under  this  principle  is  indeed  a  task 
which  is  difficult  if  not  impossible,  but  such  an  objection  ap- 
plies equally  to  the  common-sense  philosophy  ;  and  in  the 


SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  A  CONTRACT      41 

case  of  each  theory  intelligibility  scores  a  strong  point  in  its 
favor.  Moreover  the  main  difficulty  in  the  way  of  its  ac- 
ceptance, the  fiction  of  a  contract,  is  hardly  a  difficulty  at 
all  with  the  legal  minds  with  which  the  theory  has  found 
favor.  A  legal  fiction  is  but  another  name  for  a  theory 
which  is  useful  in  correlating  a  group  of  facts,  and  such 
fictions  play  no  small  part  in  the  science  of  law.  Further, 
this  theory  appeals  to  the  juristic  mind  in  that  it  treats 
the  person  in  a  distinctly  legal  manner,  viz.,  as  a  being  en- 
dowed with  rights  and  responsibilities  which  he  can  either 
retain  for  himself,  or,  within  limitations,  devolve  upon 
others.  The  person  of  law  is  the  person  presupposed  as 
entering  into  the  social  contract ;  and  it  certainly  is  a 
great  advantage  for  a  theory  to  start  with  a  conception 
which  has  been  worked  out  so  successfully  as  the  concep- 
tion of  a  person  has  been  in  the  science  of  law. 

Political  Influence  of  the  Social  Contract  Theory. — 
The  student  of  society,  again,  will  be  encouraged  to  ex- 
amine this  theory  with  care  because  it  has  played  so  im- 
portant a  part  in  political  history.  "  We  hold  these  truths 
to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they 
are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalieuable 
rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness  ;  that,  to  secure  these  rights,  governments 
are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed  .  .  .  "  :  — the  introduc- 
tion to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  framed  by  men 
steeped  in  the  political  thought  of  France,  thought  which 
followed  the  general  lines  of  the  theory  we  are  considering. 
This  theory  starts  with  the  assumption  that  men  are  en- 
dowed with  natural  rights,  and  that  the  state  arises  when 
men  assign  some  of  their  rights  to  the  corporate  body  of 
which  they  become  members.  The  rights  possessed  by  the 
state  originally  belonged  to  the  individual,  and  though  he 
may  give  them  up,  by  nature  they  still  belong  to  him. 
When  once  the  state  has  come  into  existence  and  power  is 
in  the  hands  of  its  leaders,  these  may  go  on  and  restrict 


42  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

more  and  more  the  rights  which  belong  to  the  individual. 
They  can  even  take  away  rights  which  are  considered  "  un- 
alienable,"  as  in  the  practice  of  slavery.  No  wonder  that 
oppressed  peoples  have  found  in  this  common-sense  philos- 
ophy of  society  the  watchword  about  which  to  rally  in  the 
effort  for  freedom.  "  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity  : " 
equality  is  a  second  deduction  from  this  theory,  and  frater- 
nity a  third  :  equality,  for  a  " person"  is  an  abstract  con- 
cept without  degrees  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  ;  fraternity, 
because  the  assumed  contract  at  the  basis  of  society  recog- 
nizes the  likeness  of  men  and  their  dependence  on  each 
other.  It  is  a  commonplace  of  history  that  this  theory  of 
social  organization  is  the  only  theory  that  has  profoundly 
influenced  the  life  of  nations  ;  but  the  fact  is  not  to  be 
overlooked  by  the  student  of  society  just  because  it  is  a 
commonplace. 

The  Form  of  the  Theory  to  be  Considered — The 
phrase  "  Social  Contract "  at  once  suggests  Rousseau,  but 
in  examining  the  theory  in  question  I  shall  not  limit  my- 
self to  his  work.  Indeed  I  shall  rather  avoid  the  phrase 
"  social  contract "  for  the  reason  that  this  theory  was  not 
presented  in  its  pure  form  by  Rousseau.  He  was  far  too 
keen  a  critic  of  society  to  think  that  all  social  phenomena 
could  be  brought  under  this  one  principle,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  was  too  much  under  the  influence  of  the 
thought  of  his  day  to  work  it  out  completely  and  logically. 
He  uses  it  rather  as  Plato1  uses  his  construction  of  an  ideal 
society  in  the  Republic,  to  serve  as  a  starting-point  for  his 
analysis  of  society.  For  English  readers  the  form  which 
the  theory  has  received  at  the  hands  of  Bentham,  Mill,  and 
Spencer,  not  to  mention  more  recent  writers,  is  a  more 
natural  as  well  as  a  more  suggestive  starting-point. 

The  Nature  of  a  Business  Contract — In  the  more  de- 
tailed examination  of  this  theory  the  first  question  to  be 
considered  is  concerned  with  the  exact  nature  of  the  con- 
tract with  which  society  is  compared.  A  partnership  in 

1  Plato,  Pol.  II. 


43 

business  is  a  simple  example  of  a  contract.  Two  men 
agree  to  set  aside  some  or  all  of  their  capital,  their  abilities, 
and  their  time,  for  the  accomplishment  of  definite  specified 
ends  ;  and  to  share  the  results  of  combined  effort  equally 
or  in  a  definite  ratio.  On  the  one  hand  such  a  contract 
recognizes  fully  the  individuality  and  responsibility  of  each 
of  the  parties  who  enter  into  it.  The  separate  individ- 
uality of  each  party  to  the  contract  is  presupposed  by  the 
right  to  make  the  contract,  and  it  is  enforced  only  on  the 
supposition  that  he  as  an  individual  has  a  right  to  enter 
upon  its  obligations.  Moreover  the  sphere  of  such  a  con- 
tract is  definitely  limited  ;  in  definitely  prescribing  the 
ends  for  which  it  exists,  it  recognizes  implicitly  that  the 
men  who  make  it  have  a  far  broader  life  than  it  covers. 
On  the  other  hand  the  partnership  thus  formed  constitutes 
a  new  unity  or  individuality  in  the  social  world  ;  society 
in  general  recognizes  it  as  such,  and  the  law  defines  its 
rights  and  responsibilities.  In  this  very  simple  instance 
the  nature  of  a  contract  can  be  clearly  seen  : — It  presup- 
poses responsible  individuals,  and  these  persons  retain 
their  individuality,  while  at  the  same  time  they  together 
form  a  new  unity  for  society. 

A  larger  business  corporation,  e.g.,  a  joint  stock  com- 
pany, represents  the  principle  on  a  larger  scale.  In  this 
instance  some  contribute  their  time  and  ability,  others 
their  capital,  others  it  may  be  the  influence  of  their  social 
position  ;  whatever  they  contribute,  the  essential  thing  is 
that  a  group  of  persons  unite  to  attain  some  common  end, 
and  that  the  combination  acts  together  for  the  sake  of  some 
good  which  is  to  come  to  each  member.  The  size  of  the 
corporation  may  vary  indefinitely ;  the  elements  which 
enter  into  it — stockholder,  director,  manager,  employee — 
vary  exceedingly  ;  and  the  relation  of  each  element  to  the 
whole  is  different.  None  of  these  things,  however,  affect 
the  two  fundamental  characteristics,  viz.,  the  fact  that  the 
group  thus  united  is  a  new  individual  factor  in  the  busi- 
ness world,  and  that  its  unity  rests  back  on  the  free  choice 


44  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  individual  persons  who  compose  it.  It  is  an  asso- 
ciation, a  "  society/'  which  is  based  on  the  principle  of 
contract. 

The  Contract  Principle  in  other  Social  Relations. — 
The  same  features  which  characterize  a  business  contract 
may  be  detected  in  societies  formed  to  accomplish  some 
end  which  lies  outside  the  business  relations  of  men.  Take 
for  example  the  National  Educational  Association,  or  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science — 
in  the  one  instance  a  society  formed  to  promote  the  science 
and  art  and  practice  of  education  within  a  given  field,  in 
the  other  an  organization  of  scholars  for  mutual  aid  in  in- 
creasing the  knowledge  of  scientific  truth.  In  each  case 
the  end  is  limited  and  definite,  and  outside  this  end  the 
societies  do  not  affect  their  members.  The  members  are 
individuals  who  choose  to  unite  their  power  in  a  limited  de- 
gree to  secure  results  in  which  each  one  is  interested.  In 
the  educational  world  or  in  the  broader  intellectual  world 
the  unity  thus  formed  is  quite  as  important  a  factor  as  any 
individual  in  society.  Such  societies,  then,  have  all  the 
features  of  a  business  contract  except  that  the  particular 
end  and  motive  are  different.  The  fact  that  the  end  may 
be  to  increase  knowledge,  to  develop  a  better  mode  of  edu- 
cation, to  reform  evils  existing  in  human  society,  or  to 
create  a  higher  public  sentiment  with  reference  to  any 
phase  of  individual  or  social  life,  does  affect  the  character 
of  such  an  association,  but  it  does  not  prevent  the  student 
from  describing  it  as  a  form  of  contract. 

At  the  same  time  the  question  may  well  be  raised 
whether  "  contract "  is  a  sufficiently  broad  term  to  cover 
all  that  such  an  association  stands  for.  Even  a  business 
contract  tends  to  develop  a  closer  relation  than  is  described 
in  the  terms  of  the  contract ;  but  if  one  examines  such  an 
association  as  a  trade  union,  e.g.)  the  Brotherhood  of 
Locomotive  Engineers,  the  inadequacy  of  the  term  becomes 
very  evident.  Such  a  labor  union  has  originally  the  char- 
acter of  a  purposive  association,  a  unity  produced  by  the 


SOCIETY  REGARDED   AS   A   CONTRACT  45 

organization  of  a  group  of  individuals  to  accomplish  a 
definite  end  ;  and  yet  the  bond  which  unites  them  is  far 
more  complex  than  this  would  indicate.  Common  senti- 
ments with  reference  to  their  work  and  their  employers,  a 
common  intellectual  point  of  view  which  has  been  devel- 
oped by  their  similar  employment,  common  pleasures  and 
common  antipathies — all  these  do  not  enter  into  the  nature 
of  a  contract,  but  they  are  a  distinctive  characteristic  of 
the  organizations  under  discussion. 

Marriage  as  a  Contract. — Again,  marriage  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  contract.  A  man  and  a  woman  place  certain 
restrictions  on  their  individual  activity  and  unite  to  secure 
common  ends.  While  they  remain  two  individuals  with 
each  his  own  responsibility,  a  new  unity  has  been  formed 
by  this  "  contract "  which  is  recognized  as  one  by  law  and 
by  society.  And  yet  the  family  is  far  more  than  a  business 
contract,  the  parties  to  which  may  separate  and  their  indi- 
vidual life  not  be  seriously  affected,  if  it  is  affected  at  all, 
by  the  change.  The  life  of  the  family  is  deep-rooted,  in- 
volving all  sides  of  human  nature,  and  the  fact  that  mar- 
riage is  a  legal  contract  is  the  least  of  the  bonds  which 
unite  man  and  wife  and  child. 

The  State  as  a  Contract.  —  Those  who  have  proposed 
the  social  contract  theory  have  had  in  mind  especially  the 
state.  There  are  occasions  when  a  state  actually  seerns  to 
be  "made/*  as  a  contract  is  made;  for  instance  in  1776 
it  may  well  have  seemed  to  the  Continental  Congress  that 
the  new  federation  was  essentially  a  contract,  that  the  state 
they  founded  was  constructed  by  the  choice  of  its  citizens. 
Moreover,  the  general  characteristics  of  a  business  contract 
appear  in  the  case  of  the  state.  It  consists  of  individuals 
who  willingly  accept  some  restrictions  and  who  gain  the 
right  to  corresponding  privileges.  Citizens  do  not  lose 
their  individuality  in  the  state,  rather  they  gain  larger 
scope  for  the  exercise  of  their  individuality ;  while  at  the 
same  time  the  state  as  a  whole  has  a  real  being,  which  is 
recognized  both  by  its  citizens  and  by  other  states.  Once 


46  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

more,  this  element  in  the  state  is  most  evident  in  the  more 
advanced  states ;  in  fact  as  the  state  has  developed  it  has 
assumed  more  and  more  a  character  which  places  it  in  line 
with  a  contract.  When  Mr.  Spencer  compares  the  state 
to  a  joint  stock  company,  he  could  not  have  in  mind  the 
primitive  state  the  members  of  which — now  hunters  or 
farmers,  now  warriors — follow  a  petty  chieftain  much  as 
sheep  follow  the  one  who  chances  to  be  ahead.  "  From 
status  to  contract "  is  the  formula  in  which  Sir  Henry 
Maine  seeks  to  condense  the  story  of  the  evolution  of 
human  society ;  certainly  it  requires  but  little  attention  to 
see  that  social  progress  is  marked  by  a  continually  increas- 
ing power  of  choice  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  society. 
In  the  United  States  a  man  wins  his  place  in  society  and 
in  the  state  for  himself;  he  gains  certain  privileges  and 
assumes  corresponding  duties,  much  as  the  man  who  enters 
into  a  partnership  chooses  the  ends  he  will  pursue  and 
assumes  voluntarily  the  duties  and  the  privileges  involved 
in  a  partnership  with  his  neighbor.  What  the  reader  sees 
going  on  about  him  every  day  here,  is  true,  progressively 
true,  in  every  civilized  state. 

The  analogy  between  a  state  and  a  "  joint  stock  com- 
pany," then,  is  by  no  means  superficial.  Not  only  does  it 
emphasize  one  of  the  most  notable  characteristics  of  devel- 
oping civilization,  but  it  furnishes  a  principle  which  has 
proved  of  considerable  practical  value  in  explaining  the 
government  of  civilized  states.  A  contract  exists  because 
the  contracting  parties  believe  it  helps  them  to  accomplish 
the  objects  they  have  in  view.  So,  it  has  been  said,  gov- 
ernment exists  for  the  good  of  the  governed ;  and  on  this 
basis  its  existence  has  been  justified  and  the  limits  of  its 
activity  have  been  determined.  According  to  this  prin- 
ciple government  is  by  nature  no  foreign  power  intruding 
on  the  individual ;  rather  it  is  the  expression  of  his  own 
desires.  No  subtle  analysis  is  required  to  point  out  the 
benefits  which  each  class  in  the  state  derives  from  a  stable 
government.  Every  reasonable  man  would  prefer  to  live 


SOCIETY  REGARDED   AS   A   CONTRACT  47 

under  even  a  poor  government  rather  than  to  risk  the  dan- 
gers of  complete  anarchy.1  In  so  far  as  the  state  exists  for 
the  good  of  its  citizens,  it  may  be  said  to  rest  on  voluntary 
choice,  just  as  a  contract  depends  on  the  choice  of  the 
contracting  parties. 

The  Authority  of  a  Contract-State. — Moreover,  this 
very  simple  principle  yields  some  clew  to  the  extent  to 
which  a  state  may  exercise  its  authority  in  the  use  of  force. 
The  repression  of  crime  may  be  regarded  as  for  the  ulti- 
mate good  of  the  criminal,  not  simply  as  a  necessity  for 
the  protection  of  citizens  generally.  In  the  case  of  doubt- 
ful questions,  such  as  compulsory  education,  the  principle 
we  are  considering  enables  us  to  state  the  question  in  a 
convenient  form,  viz.,  Does  compulsory  education  work 
for  the  good  of  the  citizens  as  a  body  ?  Is  it  for  the  good 
of  a  family  and  ultimately  for  the  good  of  the  state  that 
the  responsibility  for  education  be  shifted  from  the  child 
and  his  parents,  and  perhaps  from  the  local  community, 
and  that  the  education  be  enforced  by  a  higher  authority  ? 
A  long  line  of  able  men  have  elaborated  this  principle  and 
proved  that  it  has  much  practical  utility. 

The  Principle  of  Contract  Imperfect. — On  the  other  hand 
the  effort  to  explain  the  state  as  a  contract  does  not  cover  all 
the  facts.  For  example,  it  does  not  cover  the  facts  of  con- 
quest and  subjugation.  Even  though  Hanover  be  incor- 
porated into  Prussia,  or  Alsace-Lorraine  be  made  a  part  of 
the  German  empire — and  even  though  the  subjugated  peo- 
ple be  given  a  share  in  all  the  civil  rights  of  their  conquer- 
ors, it  is  a  violent  use  of  language  to  describe  the  result  as 
a  contract.  Again,  although  it  may  sometimes  seem  as 
though  states  were  made  and  unmade  at  will,  such  a  view 
is  superficial.  This  doctrine  was  tested  and  found  wanting 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  The  career  of  the  first  Napo- 
leon rested  on  some  such  assumption,  and  it  ended  in  fail- 

1  The  case  of  Prince  Krapotkin  is  an  interesting  exception  to  this 
statement. — Atlantic  Monthly,  1899.  Autobiography  of  a  Revolu- 
tionist. 

J 


48  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

ure.  A  contract  may  be  terminated ;  but  it  is  rebellion,  if 
not  treason,  for  a  community  to  cut  loose  from  the  state  of 
which  it  forms  a  part.  And  the  state,  like  the  family,  be- 
comes far  broader  than  any  contract.  No  side  of  human 
life  is  uninfluenced  by  the  state  ;  it  shelters  young  as  well 
as  old,  it  guards  the  interests  of  religion  and  morality  as 
well  as  those  of  the  business  world.  A  man's  relation 
to  the  state  is  something  far  more  intimate,  far  more  a 
part  of  himself  than  his  share  in  any  contract ;  and  the 
final  proof  of  this  statement  is  found  when  a  man  is 
called  on  to  sacrifice  even  life  itself  in  the  service  of  the 
state. 

The  Analogy  between  Society  and  a  Contract — This 
theory,  which  regards  social  organization  as  the  result  of  a 
quasi-contract,  deserves  careful  attention  and  criticism  both 
because  of  the  truth  it  contains,  and  because  of  the  influ- 
ence it  has  exercised  on  the  life  of  nations.  The  brief  ex- 
amination of  it  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  present  chapter 
may  be  sufficient  to  show  the  student  of  society  that  it  is 
an  analogy,  instead  of  a  scientific  statement  of  fact.  Soci- 
ety is  in  many  ways  like  a  business  contract,  but  the  word 
contract  must  be  stretched  unduly  to  make  it  serve  as  an 
explanation  of  society.  The  question  of  words  is  relatively 
of  small  importance,  but  sociology  as  a  science  has  suffered 
unreasonably  because  of  the  importance  attached  to  such 
analogies.  Analogy  is  useful  in  a  developing  science  in  so 
far  as  it  provokes  thought,  but  the  method  of  analogy  is 
essentially  inexact. 

Truths :  1.  Society  is  an  Organization  Controlling  its 
Members.  —  Among  the  truths  which  this  analogy  has 
clearly  brought  to  the  student's  attention  is  the  fact 
that  any  society,  and  in  particular  a  state,  is  an  organized 
unit  which  exercises  control  over  its  members.  A  contract 
means  that  the  persons  interested  have  agreed  to  stand  to- 
gether, making  their  individual  actions  subject  (within  cer- 
tain limits)  to  the  control  of  the  organization  they  have 
formed.  A  Trade  Union  or  a  society  like  the  Red  Cross 


SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  A  CONTRACT      49 

exercises  control  over  its  members  in  a  limited  line,  and  the 
control  varies  widely  with  the  relation  of  different  classes 
to  the  society.  For  example,  in  the  case  of  the  Red  Cross 
society,  there  are  first  the  supporters  who  are  responsible  for 
such  contributions  as  they  have  pledged,  then  the  officials 
responsible  to  this  constituency,  the  nurses,  doctors,  and 
other  workers  who  are  responsible  to  the  officials  that  ap- 
pointed them ; — the  responsibility  is  but  a  general  statement 
for  the  control  of  the  society  over  each  class,  and  it  is  just 
this  responsibility  and  control  which  is  made  clear  by  the 
antilogy  of  a  business  contract.  The  great  fact  of  social 
authority,  which  this  analogy  suggests,  is  fundamental  to 
the  science  of  sociology. 

2.  This  Control  is  Definitely  Limited. — In  the  case  of 
a  contract  we  have  seen  that  the  partnership  or  business 
corporation  thus  formed  has  very  clear-cut  functions  ;  the 
association  has  no  right  to  go  outside  the  forms  of  activity 
distinctly  specified  in  the  articles  of  contract.  So  we  may 
say  of  every  social  organization  that  its  control  or  authority 
is  bounded  by  definite  limits  which  it  ought  not  to  trans- 
gress in  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  The  Red  Cross  So- 
ciety seeks  to  relieve  human  suffering  in  the  great  contin- 
gencies occasioned  by  war  or  persecution,  and  in  war  it 
cares  specifically  for  the  wounded  and  sick,  not  for  the 
hungry.  If  it  undertook  to  feed  and  clothe  troops,  its 
neutrality  could  not  be  preserved  and  its  hold  on  its  sup- 
porters would  be  weakened.  So  great  a  variety  of  func- 
tions devolve  upon  the  family  that  it  may  seem  very  unlike 
a  contract ;  the  support  of  a  wife  and  reasonable  care  for 
her  which  the  law  enforces,  are  the  least  part  of  family  life  ; 
the  family  resembles  a  contract,  however,  in  that  the  legal 
responsibility  and  authority  of  each  member  are  definitely 
limited.  The  authority  of  the  state  is  limited,  not  only  by 
the  written  constitution,  but  also  by  the  more  or  less  defi- 
nite principles  in  the  minds  of  its  citizens.  Within  its 
proper  sphere  absolutely  no  hindrance  to  the  activity  of  the 
state  is  permitted  ;  there  is  another  sphere  which  its  citi- 


50  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

zens  call  their  "  rights/'  and  the  state  which  crosses  this 
line  is  threatened  with  destruction. 

3.  The  Relation  of  Individual  and  Group. — The  fact 
of  control,  and  that  a  control  definitely  limited,  is  a  charac- 
teristic of  any  society  which  the  student  is  by  no  means 
likely  to  overlook.  The  really  important  truth  which  this 
analogy  is  an  attempt  to  state,  is  that  society  is  made  up  of 
men,  of  persons  who  set  before  themselves  definite  ends, 
and  who  choose  the  means  to  realize  these  ends.  Society 
is  a  teleological  phenomenon,  not  in  the  sense  that  it  is 
itself  the  realized  purpose  whether  of  God  or  of  the  men 
who  compose  it,  but  in  the  sense  that  it  comes  into  being 
only  as  men  seek  to  carry  out  their  own  purposes  in  work- 
ing together  with  their  fellows.  The  fiction  of  a  social 
contract  only  means  that  both  the  man  who  makes  a  con- 
tract, and  the  man  who  assumes  the  duties  and  privileges  of 
society,  are  performing  acts  which  exemplify  the  same  side 
of  human  nature.  We  may  speak  of  "  animal  societies," 
but  we  really  mean  that  herds  or  flocks  or  "  schools"  show 
some  of  the  characteristics  which  in  the  case  of  man  are 
farther  developed  in  societies.  When  antelope  feed  and 
trust  a  sentinel  to  warn  them  of  their  danger,  or  even  when 
the  bee-hive  is  organized  on  the  principle  of  the  division  of 
labor,  no  society  exists,  because  that  very  element  which 
appears  most  explicitly  in  a  contract  is  lacking  ;  the  ante- 
lope and  the  bee  are  not  persons  in  the  sense  defined  above. 
The  study  of  animal  societies  so-called  is  very  suggestive 
in  this  connection,  for  undoubtedly  they  are  the  forerun- 
ners of  human  societies  and  are  connected  with  them  by  a 
common  principle.  Their  essential  difference  from  human 
societies,  however,  should  never  be  lost  sight  of. 

The  real  value  of  the  contract  theory  may  be  stated  in  a 
single  sentence.  It  is  an  analogy  which  brings  out  clearly 
that  characteristic  of  a  human  society  which  perhaps  is  most 
important,  viz.,  the  fact  that  it  is  made  up  of  persons  who 
consciously  seek  to  attain  their  own  ends,  to  live  their  own 
life,  in  and  through  their  relations  with  their  fellow-men. 


SOCIETY   REGARDED   AS   A   CONTRACT  51 

The  Contract  Theory  suggests  some  False  Ideas  of  So- 
ciety.— In  criticising  the  contract  theory  of  society  it  is 
not  so  much  my  purpose  to  point  out  the  inadequacy  of 
the  analogy,  as  the  false  ideas  of  society  which  it  incul- 
cates. It  certainly  is  inadequate.  For  instance  it  is  essen- 
tial to  a  contract  that  the  end  to  be  accomplished  and  the 
functions  to  be  exercised  by  the  contracting  parties,  be 
definitely  stated.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  societies  ordi- 
narily are  more  far-reaching  than  contracts,  and  their 
ends  are  not  definitely  stated.  Moreover  there  is  nothing 
compulsory  in  the  formation  of  a  contract  proper,  the  par- 
ties to  it  are  free  to  make  it  or  not  to  make  it ;  this  is  by 
no  means  true  of  the  state,  which  controls  all  within  its 
borders,  and  practically  it  is  not  true  of  many  other  re- 
lations in  society. 

1.  This  Theory  Neglects  other  Social  Bonds — One  in- 
adequacy of  this  theory  which  leads  directly  to  a  false 
idea  of  society  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  calls  atten- 
tion to  only  one  of  the  bonds  which  unite  men  into  social 
groups.     Partners  in  business  find  that  their  work  together 
day  by  day  loses  very  soon  the  element  of  purpose  with 
which  it  began,  and  becomes  the  habit  of  a  common  life 
together.     They  come  to  be  united  by  ties  of  mutual  re- 
spect, or  it  may  be  of  affection  ;  perhaps  they  share  pleas- 
ures of  recreation  together ;   they  appear  together  as  a 
power  in  politics,  and  as  a  firm  they  make  gifts  to  benev- 
olent objects.     In  a  word  even  a  partnership  tends  to  a 
fuller  common  life  than  the  contract  itself  covers.     Now 
what  is  true  of  a  partnership  is  true  to  an  infinitely  greater 
extent  of  such  societies  as  the  family  and  the  state.     The 
contract,  real  or  fictitious,  covers  a  very  small  part  of  the 
common  life  for  which  they  stand  ;  to  explain  these  soci- 
eties as  contracts  is  to  emphasize  one  side  of  their  nature 
at  the  expense  of  the  other  sides.     The  analogy  is  so  de- 
fective as  to  be  positively  misleading. 

2.  It  Emphasizes  the  Individual   Unduly. — Again  the 
contract  analogy  is  misleading  in  that  it  unduly  empha- 


52  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

sizes  the  purpose  and  will  of  the  individual.  It  is  evident 
that  contracts  are  made  and  ordinarily  societies  are  not 
made, — that  ordinarily  contracts  can  be  terminated  and 
societies  cannot  be  terminated.  This  very  obvious  dis- 
tinction is  in  reality  part  of  a  larger  truth,  namely,  that 
in  business  contracts  the  purposes  of  the  contracting  par- 
ties are  the  direct  basis  of  their  relation,  while  in  the  case 
of  a  society  the  purposes  of  its  members  are  only  indirectly 
the  basis  of  their  union.  Buyers  competing  in  the  same 
market  become  members  of  one  economic  group,  but  it  is 
the  purpose  to  outdo  each  other,  not  the  purpose  to  work 
harmoniously,  which  produces  this  result.  It  may  be  a 
purely  selfish  purpose,  desire  for  better  social  position,  or 
satisfaction  in  social  pleasures,  which  urges  a  man  on  to 
cultivate  social  relations  with  his  fellows.  The  state  does 
seek  to  cultivate  patriotism ;  but  the  citizen  assumes  his 
responsibilities  ordinarily,  not  because  of  any  direct  pur- 
pose to  co-operate  with  fellow-citizens  in  securing  the  ad- 
vantages of  good  government.  Rather  it  is  the  indirect 
result  of  purposes  finding  their  immediate  ends  in  the  eco- 
nomic, social,  vor  intellectual  world,  that  a  man  is  made 
irrevocably  a  citizen.  Society  in  general,  and  many  of  the 
groups  in  society,  are  not  the  result  of  man's  choice ;  they 
are  the  indirect  product  which  attends  his  effort  to  attain 
other  ends. 

3.  It  Treats  the  Individual  as  something  Separate 
from  Society. — The  real  failure  of  this  theory,  however, 
the  point  where  it  breaks  down  completely,  lies  in  its 
assumption  that  men's  individual  personality  consists  in 
their  separateness  from  each  other  and  from  society.  So- 
ciety, from  this  standpoint,  is  like  a  mass  of  matter  which 
physics  regards  as  an  aggregation  of  separate  molecules. 
The  parts  of  society  can  be  seen  to  be  separate  wholes  com- 
plete in  themselves ;  and  it  is  natural  to  assume  that  as 
the  animal  man  is  complete  in  himself,  so  the  social  man 
is  complete  in  himself.  Just  this  assumption  has  been 
fostered  by  a  one-sided  science  of  politics  and  a  one-sided 


SOCIETY   REGARDED   AS  A   CONTRACT  53 

economics  ;  it  has  been  fostered  in  the  school,  and  even  in 
the  church.  The  social-contract  theory  is  the  outcome 
and  expression  of  this  view.  The  broader  and  truer  con- 
ceptions of  society  which  have  been  again  brought  to  the 
front  during  the  nineteenth  century,  prove  the  inadequacy 
of  such  individualism.  The  first  truth  for  the  nascent 
science  of  sociology  is,  as  we  shall  see,  that  man's  person- 
ality lies  in  his  connection  with  society — that  the  person 
is  a  product  of  social  evolution. 

In  a  period  when  so  much  emphasis  is  laid  on  the  fact 
that  society  is  a  part  of  nature,  if  not  of  physical  nature,  a 
period,  too,  of  which  collectivism  claims  to  be  the  watch- 
word, the  truths  suggested  by  the  phrase  "  social  contract " 
deserve  to  be  emphasized  afresh.  This  analogy  is  im- 
perfect, and  the  continued  use  of  analogy  is  unscientific  ; 
nevertheless  the  conception  of  an  association  formed  by 
individuals  to  attain  a  definite  end,  is  a  most  useful  tool 
in  the  study  of  society. 


CHAPTER  II 
SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  AN  ORGANISM 

The  Analogy  of  a  Biological  Organism — Meaning  of  "  Organic  "  as 
Applied  to  Society. 

I.  The  "  Organic "  Nature  of  the  Social  Unit.     1.  Complexity  and 

Unity  of  Society.  2.  The  Unity  of  a  Society  is  Dynamic  rather 
than  Static.  3.  The  Unity  of  a  Society  is  Determined  from 
Within — Its  Growth  is  Determined  from  Within. 

II.  Social   Environment  and    Social   Evolution.     1.  Society  and  its 
Environment :    Its   Physical  Environment ;    Its   Social  Environ- 
ment.    2.  Each  Organism  has  its  place  in  Organic  Evolution; 
Each  Society  has  its  place  in  Social  Evolution. 

Danger  of  the  Biological  Analogy — Its  Value. 

(Note  on  the  Differences   between  a  Society  and  a  Biological  Or- 
ganism.) 

The  Analogy  of  a  Biological  Organism. — A  second  and 
more  recent  group  of  students  of  society  have  developed  a 
science  of  sociology  on  the  basis  of  a  second  analogy,  the 
analogy  between  a  society  and  a  biological  organism.  The 
results  of  the  study  of  society  from  this  standpoint  are  the 
more  important  because  they  in  a  measure  supplement  the 
results  of  the  analogy  between  a  society  and  a  contract. 
They  are  also  important  because  this  movement  represents 
an  effort  to  place  sociology  in  line  with  the  natural  sciences, 
by  introducing  one  principle  according  to  which  social 
phenomena  are  to  be  examined,  classified,  and  explained. 

Although  a  science  of  society  based  on  biological  prin- 
ciples is  a  product  of  the  last  half  century,  the  compar- 
ison of  society  to  an  organism  is  by  no  means  a  new  one  ; 
Plato  and  Aristotle  made  it  familiar  to  their  readers,  and 
the  writings  of_Paul  and  John  have  kept  it  before  the 
Christian  church.  This  statement  of  the  nature  of  soci- 

54 


SOCIETY   REGARDED   AS   AN  ORGANISM  55 

ety  has  the  advantage  of  simplicity  ;  the  analogy  which  it 
suggests  is  an  exceedingly  attractive  one  ;  moreover  such 
an  explanation  of  society  apparently  solves  some  difficul- 
ties which  beset  the  earnest  student,  by  showing  that  many 
a  fact  which  in  itself  seemed  an  imperfection  or  a  blemish, 
had  a  really  important  place  in  the  development  of  society 
as  a  whole.  And  it  seems  to  furnish  some  clews  to  the 
social  ideals  which  reformers  of  society  may  rightly  aim  to 
realize  ;  at  any  rate,  social  reformers  of  antithetic  schools 
profess  to  find  support,  each  for  his  own  position,  in  the 
doctrines  of  biological  sociology. 

Excellent  as  this  analogy  appears  at  first  sight,  the 
effort  to  construct  a  whole  science  on  the  basis  of  a  mere 
analogy  properly  awakens  suspicion.  The  so-called  sociol- 
ogy which  has  been  produced  by  this  process  in  Germany, 
is  hardly  more  than  the  description  of  social  phenomena 
in  biological  language,  and  the  interpretation  of  them  in 
terms  of  biological  laws.  It  is  neither  biology  nor  so- 
ciology, and  it  can  serve  no  scientific  purpose.  Mr.  Her- 
bert Spencer  does  not  develop  this  analogy  so  minutely  as 
the  German  writers  just  referred  to,  and  in  his  hands  it 
affords  a  means  of  portraying  vividly  some  of  the  essential 
features  of  social  life  and  social  development.  However, 
it  remains  an  analogy,  and  such  an  analogy  always  tempts 
the  writer  to  exaggerate  apparent  likeness.  Social  tissue, 
and  social  organs,  and  the  social  mind,  are  convenient 
phrases  ;  the  question  is  whether  they  are  true  and  the 
best  expression  for  the  truth. 

In  Dr.  Schaffle's  scheme,  property  is  the  passive  factor,  and 
the  individual  inan  the  active  factor,  in  the  social  substance. 
The  family  is  the  simplest  vital  unity  or  cell.  The  "social 
substance  "  consists  of  (1)  simple  connective  tissue — unity  of 
speech,  belief,  etc.  ;  and  (2)  differentiated  tissue — institutions 
for  protection,  industry,  etc.  Society  has  a  mind  with  sensi- 
tive and  motive  apparatus  (e.g.  the  executive  function  of  the 
state),  with  intellectual  activity  (schools,  etc.),  as  well  as  aes- 
thetic and  ethical  Ufe. 


66  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

Mr.  Spencer  points  out  that  animals  have  a  three-fold  sys- 
tem of  organs  ;  correspondingly,  society  has  a  nutritive  sys- 
tem in  its  industrial  organization,  rulers  and  defenders  con- 
stitute its  nervous  system,  transportation  and  exchange  its 
circulatory  system.  Animals  (a)  increase  in  size,  (&)  increase 
in  differentiation  of  structure  and  function,  while  (c)  no  part 
can  live  in  separation  from  the  developed  organism.  Societies 
(a)  increase  in  size  both  by  internal  multiplication  and  by 
union  of  groups  ;  (ft)  increasing  differentiation  is  shown  in 
the  division  of  labor,  and,  as  in  the  animal,  the  differentiated 
function  gives  rise  to  separate  organs,  and,  finally,  to  a  com- 
plex social  apparatus  ;  and  (c)  separation  from,  the  developed 
organism  is  fatal. 

Meaning  of  "  Organic,"  as  Applied  to  Society. — The 

question  whether  or  not  society  is  really  a  sort  of  biologi- 
cal organism  is  wont  to  receive  undue  emphasis  to-day,  by 
reason  of  the  current  discussion  between  adherents  and  op- 
ponents of  a  biological  school  of  sociologists.  The  prior 
question,  and,  indeed,  the  only  question  of  real  importance, 
has  to  do  with  the  truth  which  this  analogy  is  intended  to 
convey.  To  the  most  superficial  observer,  society  has  some 
degree  of  unity,  and  it  is  made  up  of  lesser  units  or  groups. 
Unquestionably  the  lesser  units  and  the  larger  group  are 
organically  related  ;  the  words  "  organ  "  and  "  organism  " 
are  not  limited  to  biology,  but  they  may  be  used  in  any 
sphere  of  investigation  to  denote  a  relation  that  is  essential 
nature  of  the  related  objects  instead  of  being  merely 
isic.  An  artistic  product  is  distinguished  from  what 
.to  be  artistic,  in  part  by  the  fact  that  the  different 
in  it  are  part  of  one  whole,  that  they  are  organ- 

»  related  to  each  other  and  to  the  whole.     A  sustained 
ent  is  made  up  of  organically  related  parts  ;  the  ele- 
a  mathematical  system  are  organically  related  ; 
te  ^L^terature  may  be   called  an  organism  when 
feature  of  it  is  essentially,  vitally,  connected  with  the 
.     It  is  necessary  to  insist  on  this  broader  meaning 
word  "  organic,"  in  order  that  the  basis  of  the  bio- 


SOCIETY   REGARDED  AS   AN   ORGANISM  57 

logical  analogy  may  b&  clearly  grasped.  The  word  "  or- 
ganism "  has  of  course  a  more  limited  meaning  in  biology. 
And  the  comparison  between  a  society  and  a  biological  or- 
ganism is  suggestive  for  sociology  along  two  lines  : — (1)  as 
to  the  general  character  of  the  social  unit,  and  (2)  as  to  the 
relation  of  social  units  to  each  other  and  to  their  natural 
environment. 

I.  THE  "  ORGANIC  "  NATUBE  OF  THE  SOCIAL  UNIT 

i.  Complexity  and  Unity  of  Society. — As  applied  to 
a  social  group,  this  analogy  suggests  first  that  a  society 
shows  the  same  marvellous  subjection  of  a  complex 


,ure  to  a  single  end  that  characterizes  a  plant  or  animal. 
The  animal  organism  consists  of  cellular  material  which 
biology  regards  as  one  and  the  same  in  all  its  modifications, 
but  this  material  assumes  very  different  forms  in  the  vari- 
ous parts  and  organs  of  the  body.  While  each  organ  re- 
garded by  itself  has  a  certain  unity  and  independence,  it  is 
immediately  connected  with  others  in  the  same  system  or 
apparatus,  and  less  closely  with  other  parts  of  the  same 
whole.  The  stomach  has  its  own  function,  but  this  func- 
tion is  subordinated  to  the  end  or  function  of  the  whole  di- 
gestive system,  and  this  again  is  indissolubly  associated 
with  the  functions  of  the  other  systems  in  the  body, 
farther  analysis  is  carried,  the  more  complex  the  strj 
of  an  organism  appears,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
the  whole  stands  out  so  much  the  more  distinctly, 
is  not  simply  an  analogy  in  general  structure  betw^ 
social  group  and  the  animal  organism  ;  the  cympj 
which  the  unity  finds  expression  is  the  sa 
society  consists  of  individuals  who  are  essentially  al| 
although  they  become  very  different  as  they  stand 
ferent  relations  to  the  life  of  the  whole.  These  indivij 
live  their  lives  in  groups — social,  industrial,  and  poll 
Each  little  group  has  some  independence,  but  it  is 
diately  connected  with  other  groups  in  the  same  (iBfts- 


58  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

trial,  or  political,  or  intellectual)  system,  and  this  system 
again  is  co-ordinated  with  others  in  the  complex  life  of 
society.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  individual  unit 
seems  so  simple  and  familiar,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  cover 
in  any  analysis  all  the  complex  life  in  which  each  bears  its 
part ;  but  the  fact  that  the  common  life  has  a  unity  of  its 
own  becomes  more  clear  the  more  it  is  studied. 

For  instance,  common  political  life,  the  unity  of  a  nation, 
is  not  fully  comprehended  in  the  few  powers  that  may  be  di- 
rectly exercised  by  the  central  government.  Each  dependent 
commonwealth,  county,  and  town  represents  to  those  whom  it 
includes  certain  phases  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  whole.  The 
energy  and  harmony  of  the  state  depend  on  the  true  vigor  and 
vitality  of  each  part,  and  of  each  citizen.  At  the  same  time, 
the  political  organization  of  society  stands  in  closest  relation 
with  its  social,  industrial,  and  intellectual  structure.  A  state 
is  not  constituted  by  the  presence  of  military  power,  nor  yet 
can  industry  flourish  and  intellectual  culture  arise  without 
the  presence  of  some  authority  able  to  maintain  order  and  to 
protect  from  attack. 

2.  The  Unity  of  a  Society  is  Dynamic  rather  than 
Static. — Secondly,  in  its  application  to  the  unity  of  a  so- 
cial group,  the  word  "  organic  "  reminds  the  student  that 
a  society  has  not  so  much  a  structural  unity  as  the  unity 
of  a  process.  In  the  biological  organism,  be  it  vegetable 
or  animal,  the  cells  are  constantly  changing,  and  the  struct- 
ure is  permanent  only  in  its  general  outlines.  Each  part 
spends  itself  in  performing  its  function  for  the  whole,  and 
is  constantly  restored  through  the  natural  activity  of  the 
other  parts  in  the  performance  of  their  own  functions. 
The  animal  is  one  because  the  different  organs  are  so  deli- 
cately adjusted  to  each  other  that  they  work  together  as 
parts  of  one  process,  which  process  is  the  animal's  life.  It 
i^Bqually  true  of  society  that  its  structure  is  constantly 
cBlging,  and  that  its  real  unity  consists  of  the  common 
li»  in  which  all  the  social  activities  bear  a  part.  In  every 
society  the  units  are  constantly  changing,  young  men 


SOCIETY  REGA£»E»  AS  AN  •AGANISM         59 

come  forward  to  take  thp  place  of  the  old.  The  institu- 
tions for  accomplishing  given  ends  change  from  age  to  age, 
and  the  general  structure  of  society  is  always  being  slowly 
modified.  For  example,  economic  goods  may  be  produced 
by  the  tribe,  by  the  village,  in  the  family,  or  in  the  fac- 
tory ;  in  these  different  cases  the  structure  of  a  society  is 
profoundly  different.  The  life  and  vigor  of  society  depend 
upon  change,  but  through  all  change  a  society  preserves  its 
real  unity  because  its  common  life  continues.  Each  social 
organ  is  spending  itself  in  performing  its  function  for  the 
whole,  and  its  energy  is  constantly  restored  as  its  members 
receive  food  and  clothing,  new  satisfaction,  and  new  incen- 
tive of  every  sort,  because  the  other  social  organs  are  per- 
forming their  proper  functions.  The  larger  society  is  one 
when  all  its  parts  depend  on  each  other  in  one  common 
life-process.  The  smaller  social  group,  e.g.,  a  trade  union, 
is  one,  not  by  reason  of  the  particular  organization  it  may 
form,  but  because  its  members  share  a  common  life. 

The  important  corollary  to  the  truth  just  stated,  is  that 
the  different  parts  and  activities  of  society  stand  in  very 
close  relations  of  interdependence.  This  interdependence 
often  seems  greater  than  in  the  case  of  animal  life,  where 
the  loss  of  a  foot  or  an  eye  may  have  no  direct  effect  on  the 
stomach,  and  even  a  part  of  the  brain  may  be  destroyed 
without  any  perceptible  change  in  the  other  organs.  The 
most  familiar  example  of  social  interdependence  is  the 
economic  life  of  society,  with  its  balance  of  supply  and  de- 
mand, delicately  adjusted  and  yet  inexorable,  controlling 
all  the  markets  of  the  world  and  making  the  industrial 
world  one.  Injury  to  an  economic  class  is  immediately  felt 
through  all  the  economic  world,  and  it  has  far-reaching 
results  in  the  spheres  of  social,  moral,  and  intellectual  life. 
A  new  invention  in  America  may  cheapen  the  food-supply 
of  Europe,  or  affect  the  percentage  of  crime  in  England. 
Similarly  the  health  of  a  city  is  threatened  by  a  single  case 
of  contagious  disease,  and  a  single  crime  widely  advertised 
often  produces  a  harvest  of  moral  evil.  Such  a  familiar 


60  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

fact  as  the  dynamic  interdependence  of  the  different  parts 
of  society  hardly  needs  illustration.  The  use  of  the  word 
"  organic  "  in  application  to  a  society  as  the  expression  of 
this  fact,  is  justified  both  because  the  organism  is  the  most 
familiar  example  of  this  kind  of  interdependence,  and  be- 
cause no  analysis  can  adequately  express  all  the  complex 
relations  which  exist  in  the  developed  society. 

3.  The  Unity  of  a  Society  is  determined  from  within. 
— The  most  striking  difference  between  an  organism,  plant 
or  animal,  and  any  other  object,  is  that  the  unity  and  the 
growth  of  an  organism  seem  to  be  determined  from  within.1 
The  unity  of  a  hill  or  a  rock  depends  on  our  own  definition; 
the  unity  of  a  house  rests  back  on  the  idea  in  the  mind  of 
the  builder;  but  a  plant  includes  so  much  as  is  subject  to 
the  single  life-principle  within.  The  word  "  organic  "  as 
applied  to  a  society  means,  thirdly,  that  any  given  society 
includes  so  much  as  is  subject  to  the  life  of  that  society. 
The  unity  of  a  people  is  not  determined  by  life  in  the  same 
geographical  locality;  the  Englishman  and  the  Spaniard 
are  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the  globe.  Nor  does  it  de- 
pend necessarily  on  the  unity  of  political  life;  United  Ger- 
many is  a  recent  fact,  and  political  union  hardly  succeeds 
in  uniting  Norway  and  Sweden.  The  unity  of  a  people  is 
the  unity  of  a  common  life.  The  same  language,  the  same 
customs  and  traditions,  a  love  for  the  same  past,  these  are 
important  factors  in  a  common  life,  although  they  do  not 
express  it  all.  A  people  is  truly  one  only  when  it  has  come 
to  recognize  its  unity,  to  be  proud  of  custom  and  tradition 
because  these  express  its  own  past,  to  be  loyal  to  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  present  because  these  are  the  form  of  its  pres- 
ent life.  A  people  is  one  when  it  has  developed  a  self- 
consciousness  of  its  own;  such  a  unity  determined  from 
within  is  fitly  called  "  organic." 

The  Growth  of  a  Society  is  governed  by  an  Internal 
Law. — Moreover,  the  growth  of  a  plant,  or  an  animal,  is 
governed  by  an  internal  law.  The  word  "  growth  "  is  not 
1  Cf.  Mackenzie,  Introduction  to  Social  Philosophy,  chap.  iii. 


SOCIETY    REGARDED   AS   AN   ORGANISM  61 

directly  applied  to  increasing  geological  formation  or  to 
mechanical  products;  the  factory  extends  as  machinery  is 
added  and  the  old  engines  replaced  by  new,  but  it  does  not 
itself  grow.  The  organism  proper  unfolds  from  within,  in 
accordance  with  a  type  already  determined  in  the  germ,  and 
growth  is  the  development  of  this  type,  or  character,  when 
the  germ  is  placed  under  favorable  conditions.  The  clear- 
est law  of  history  is  that  a  human  society  follows  the  same 
law  of  growth  from  within.  Every  age  and  every  period 
of  development  sets  the  type  for  the  succeeding  period,  de- 
termining its  general  character,  if  not  the  extent  and  rapid- 
ity of  development.  A  church  grows,  not  when  it  is  ex- 
tended over  new  territory,  but  when  it  absorbs  and  controls 
new  peoples,  by  subjecting  them  to  the  power  of  its  life  ; 
its  growth  is  from  within.  The  modern  type  of  factory 
production  may  be  traced  from  the  inventions  which  made 
it  possible,  through  various  stages,  to  its  present  form,  and 
it  still  has  a  future  before  it.  All  the  economic  and  legal 
and  political  institutions  that  we  prize,  are  parts  of  a  pro- 
cess of  growth;  their  authority  is  the  outgrowth  of  the 
past,  and  their  future  form  develops  out  of  the  present. 
One  nation  may  conquer  another  in  battle,  but  it  remains 
to  be  seen  whether  the  conquering  people  has  in  itself  the 
genius  to  absorb  the  other  people  into  its  own  life.  Crises 
come  in  the  life  of  every  nation,  when  some  great  political 
change  seems  to  be  suddenly  introduced,  yet  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  look  beneath  the  surface  to  see  that  the  new 
external  order  is  simply  the  truer  expression  of  the  com- 
mon  life  which  gradually  has  come  to  demand  the  new 
form.  The  bud  has  been  slowly  developing  as  it  absorbed 
the  plant-juices;  and  some  morning  the  plant  is  open.  The 
growth  of  a  nation  is  determined  from  within;  in  the  life 
of  a  people  is  to  be  found  the  law  of  its  development. 


62  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

II.   SOCIAL  ENVIRONMENT  AND  SOCIAL  EVOLUTION 

i.  Society  and  its  Environment. — The  second  thought 
suggested  by  the  word  "  organism  "  is  that  a  society  is  not 
an  independent  entity,  but  develops  as  part  of  a  larger  pro- 
cess. The  plant,  or  animal,  is  related  to  others  which  are 
included  in  the  same  species;  it  is  related,  less  closely  but 
none  the  less  really,  to  other  organisms  in  the  great  whole 
of  organic  nature ;  it  depends  most  intimately  on  its  phys- 
ical environment :  in  these  different  ways  it  takes  its  place 
in  that  one  great  process  which  we  call  Nature — or  the 
World. 

Its  Physical  Environment. — A  society  depends  on  its 
environment  no  less  intimately  than  do  the  organisms  of 
biology.  Physical  environment  does  much  to  influence  the 
character  of  a  society  by  its  influence  on  the  persons  who 
compose  it ;  and,  more  directly  still,  physical  environment 
affects  society  itself,  determining  the  lines  which  social  activ- 
ity may  follow,  and  stimulating  or  checking  that  activity. 
The  broken  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  brought  very  dif- 
ferent peoples  into  comparatively  close  contact,  and  the 
resulting  development  of  industry  spread  a  democratic 
spirit  in  communities  on  the  coast.  Aryan  tribes  penetrat- 
ing into  Greece  were  necessarily  broken  into  smaller  groups, 
and  the  lack  of  communication  between  narrow  valleys 
made  the  culture  of  one  group  less  and  less  like  that  of  the 
others.  "Where  food  is  scarce,  and  widely  scattered,  as  in 
Australia,  only  four  or  five  or  six  persons  can  find  mainten- 
ance together,  and  the  size  of  the  social  group  is  immediately 
determined.  In  times  and  places  of  plenty  the  tribe  in- 
creases with  abnormal  rapidity  till  perhaps  emigration  is 
necessary  to  provide  food  for  all.  In  all  phases  of  its  activ- 
ity a  society  is  linked  most  closely  with  physical  nature  out- 
side itself,  and  the  same  analysis  which  often  makes  it  con- 
venient to  speak  of  an  organism  and  its  environment,  has 
constantly  led  the  student  to  speak  of  the  environment — 
the  physical  environment — of  society. 


SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  AN  ORGANISM  63 

Its  Social  Environment. — If,  in'thought,  any  given  soci- 
ety is  isolated  and  set  in  contrast  with  its  environment, 
the  most  important  phase  of  this  environment  is  its  social 
side,  the  environment  by  human  societies  with  which  the 
given  society  stands  in  connection.  The  military  strength 
of  a  society  is  determined  by  its  social  environment.  In 
modern  Europe  enormous  sums  are  spent  that  each  nation 
may  keep  its  relative  place  among  its  neighbors  in  refer- 
ence to  armament  on  land  and  sea.  In  all  but  the  lowest 
stages  of  uncivilized  life  the  same  principle  holds  good  :  a 
tribe  maintains  its  place  among  its  neighbors  by  its  fight- 
ing power,  its  numbers,  or  its  strength  of  position  ;  among 
weaker  neighbors  it  may  be  split  by  dissension,  or  lose  its 
vigor,  without  running  the  risk  of  annihilation.  The 
tools,  and  much  of  the  skill  in  meeting  wants  and  desires, 
which  a  tribe  possesses,  are  determined  by  social  environ- 
ment. The  bow  and  arrow  have  a  given  area,  the  boome- 
rang a  more  limited  area  ;  among  tribes  which  use  the  one 
weapon  a  new  tribe  would  adopt  that,  unless  it  brought 
with  it  a  superior  weapon  which  the  other  tribes  might 
adopt.  Customs  have  the  same  history.  Forms  of  gov- 
ernment, religious  practices,  rules  of  right  action,  and 
even  the  minutest  details  of  custom  in  the  simplest  mat- 
ters, are  determined  for  the  social  group  in  large  measure 
by  its  social  surroundings.  In  all  its  social  life  a  society 
is  connected  with  adjacent  societies,  and  as  civilization 
develops  this  connection  is  extended  indefinitely. 

2.  Each  Organism  has  its  place  in  Organic  Evolution. 
— Secondly,  the  word  "  organic  "  suggests  that  the  larger 
process  to  which  each  society  belongs  may  be  described  as 
an  evolution.  In  the  animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms  the 
word  "  evolution  "  means  that  organisms  may  be  arranged 
in  a  series  which  represents,  more  or  less  perfectly,  the 
history  of  their  development.  The  series  converges  as  one 
goes  backward,  till  hypothetically  some  simple  form  is 
reached,  to  which  all  the  complex  forms  of  life  are  traced 
back.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  series,  there  are  presum- 


64  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

ably  some  well-marked  stages,  while  in  the  latter  part 
there  could  hardly  be  stages  of  development  which  would 
be  identical  for  forms  so  diverse  as  birds,  fishes,  and  mam- 
mals. And  the  word  "evolution"  means  that  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  this  series  really  represents  what  we 
know  of  the  history  of  organic  life.  The  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  life  has  followed  such  a  course  of  develop- 
ment, is  that  we  find  it  still  subject  to  the  same  laws  and 
following  the  same  course.  These  biological  laws  may  (in 
part)  be  determined  as  a  matter  of  experiment,  so  that  the 
student  can  actually  see  the  process  of  evolution  going  on. 
Each  Society  has  its  place  in  Social  Evolution — In 
like  manner  the  complex  forms  of  human  societies  now  ex- 
isting, may  be  traced  to  simpler  antecedents,  and  arranged 
in  a  series.  The  complex  judicial  and  legal  institutions  of 
modern  society  are  said  to  begin  with  a  few  simple  rules 
by  which  a  dispute  is  to  be  settled.  Different  forms  of 
industrial  organization,  from  the  barter  of  lowest  savages 
down  to  the  industrial  life  that  now  involves  in  one  cur- 
rent all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  globe,  may  be  arranged 
in  a  series  representing  the  industrial  evolution  of  society. 
It  has  often  been  assumed  that  such  a  series  represents 
what  we  know  of  the  history  of  the  human  race  from  some 
one  simple  beginning  down  to  its  present  complex  life.  In 
any  case  it  is  a  simple  matter  to  point  out  some  stages  in 
the  early  history  of  a  given  division  of  the  race,  stages 
which,  perhaps,  arose  independently  in  different  places 
as  the  outcome  of  the  same  causes.  Thus  we  speak  of  a 
stone  age,  and  a  bronze  and  iron  age ;  of  a  hunting  age, 
and  a  nomad  age,  and  an  age  of  agriculture.  But  here,  as 
before^the  real  reason  for  believing  that  human  society 
developed  under  definite  laws  from  some  simple  begin- 
nings, is  that  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  process  for  a  little 
way  and  to  determine  some  of  these  laws.  Within  the 
period  covered  by  historic  records,  we  see  each  present 
growing  out  of  its  past,  we  discover  some  of  the  causes  for 
each  change  in  the  form  of  social  life,  the  general  trend  of 


SOCIETY   REGARDED   AS   AN   ORGANISM  65 

the  development  becomes  clear,  and  at  least  a  few  of  the 
laws  to  which  this  social  process  is  subject,  may  be  deter- 
mined. Any  particular  phase  of  social  life  can  only  be 
understood  as  part  of  the  one  great  process  of  social  de- 
velopment, and  the  larger  process  is  best  understood  as  an  • 
evolution  of  many  complex  forms  out  of  a  very  few  simple 
forms. 

Danger  of  the  Biological  Analogy. — That  so  striking  an 
analogy  as  the  analogy  between  a  society  and  an  organism 
should  lead  to  false  conclusions,  is  by  no  means  surprising. 
"A  society  is  either  organic  or  inorganic/' is  Mr.  Spencer's 
dilemma ; *  and  as  the  society  is  quite  unlike  inorganic 
matter,  he  concludes  that  it  is  not  only  organic  but  is 
itself  an  organism,  and  that  it  differs  from  the  animal  only 
as  the  animal  differs  from  the  plant.  "  Organisms  grow  ; 
societies  grow ;  therefore  society  is  an  organism " — the 
argument  of  the  biological  school  of  sociologists  can  be 
reduced  to  this  simple  form,  and  the  fallacy  which  is  evi- 
dent in  this  statement  is  not  avoided  by  the  rich  and  varied 
forms  in  which  the  argument  is  often  presented.2 

Value  of  the  Biological  Analogy. — The  analogy  between 
a  society  and  a  biological  organism  is  far  from  perfect,  so 
that  the  actual  help  which  sociology  can  derive  from  biol- 
ogy is  little  enough.  No  mere  expansion  of  an  analogy  de- 
serves the  name  of  a  science,  as  was  said  in  the  previous 
chapter,  even  if  it  extend  through  several  volumes ;  more- 
over, this  particular  analogy  has  hindered  the  progress  of 
sociology  by  the  false  and  one-sided  views  which  it  has  sug- 
gested. And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  that  may  be  urged  against 
it,  the  analogy  continues  to  have  real  value  as  an  effective  . 
way  of  stating  important  truths.  The  complex  unity  of 
the  social  structure  can  never  be  fully  stated^a  any  analy- 
sis, however  far  it  be  carried.  The  dynamic  interdepend- 
ence of  the  different  social  elements  in  one  great  process  is 

1  H.  Spencer,  Principles  of  Sociology,  pt.  ii.,  chap.  ii. 

*  A  brief  summary  of  the  differences  between  a  society  and  a  bio- 
logical organism  is  to  be  found  in  a  note  at  the  close  of  the  present 
chapter. 


66  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

like  the  interdependence  of  functions  in  the  life  of  an  ani- 
mal, in  the  fact  that  it  is  never  fully  described  in  the 
abstract  propositions  of  science.  In  a  word,  the  general 
nature  of  a  social  unit  and  the  character  of  its  depend- 
ence on  other  units  are  best  described  by  the  use  of  this 
figure.  And  as  the  student  goes  on  to  study  the  social 
group  from  different  standpoints,  to  classify  and  examine 
the  different  forms  of  social  activity,  and  to  seek  the  laws 
of  social  development,  the  "organic  "  character  of  a  society 
is  constantly  to  be  kept  in  mind. 
The  word  "  organic  "  is  used  to  describe  : — 

(I)  The  unity  of  a  society. 

(1)  This  unity  is  made  up  of  relations  so  complex  that 

they  cannot  be  completely  analyzed. 

(2)  The  real  unity  lies  not  in  the  structure,  but  in  the 
one  process  in  which  all  the  parts  depend  inti- 
mately on  each  other. 

(3)  The  unity  and  the  development  of  a  society  are 
determined  from  within. 

(II)  The  fact  that  each  social  element  is  part  of  a  larger 
process. 

(1)  Each  society,  large  or  small,  depends  on  its  environ- 

ment, both  physical  and  social. 

(2)  Each  social  element  and  social  function  is  under- 

stood only  as  part  of  a  larger  process,  viz.,  the 
evolution  of  human  society. 

NOTE  ON  THE  DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  A  SOCIETY  AND  A 
BIOLOGICAL  ORGANISM1 

The  discussion  of  "Biological  Sociology"  does  not  fall 
within  the  •ope  of  the  present  work,  but  it  may  be  useful  to 
summarize  briefly  the  important  differences  between  a  society 
and  an  organism. 

(1)  The  original  elements  of  society  are  more  discrete  than 
the  original  elements  in  a  biological  organism.  The  higher 

1  pt  De  Greef,  Intro^uftiQ    a  la  Sociologie,  pt.  i.,  chap.  vi. 


SOCIETY   REGARDED   AS   AN   ORGANISM  67 

this  organism,  the  more  closely  all  the  parts  are  bound  to- 
gether in  subordination  to  the  single  life  of  the  whole  ;  but 
as  a  society  develops  a  higher  and  more  intense  life,  the  per- 
sons composing  it  acquire  more  and  more  individuality.  In 
consequence  of  this,  (a)  parts  of  a  society  can  live  alone  when 
separated  ;  a  Robinson  Crusoe  on  a  ' '  desert  island  ' '  is  possi- 
ble when  nature  is  reasonably  lavish  ;  and  (&)  the  loss  of  a  con- 
siderable part  is  less  dangerous  to  the  whole. 

(2)  The  form  of  the  social  group  is  less  fixed  and  permanent 
than  is  the  structure  of  an  animal  or  plant.     The  organs  of  an 
animal  belong  to  a  few  definite  series,  and  their  functions  re- 
main about  the  same.     In  a  society,  the  number  and  variety 
of  social  "organs  "  go  on  increasing  indefinitely  ;  and  their 
particular  structure  and  function  do  not  continue  the  same. 
Consequently,  (a)  social  growth  is  less  closely  limited  by  time 
and  place  than  is  the  growth  of  an  organism  proper.     Unlike 
the  life  of  an  animal,  the  life  of  a  society  tends  normally  to 
become  more  stable,  its  power  to  adapt  itself  to  changed  con- 
ditions increases,  and  much  as  the  form  of  its  expression  may 
change,  it  is  in  reality  continuous.    And  (6)  changes  in  the  life 
of  a  society  may  be  more  various,  more  important,  and  more 
rapid,  than  in  the  animal  or  plant.    An  economic  crisis  changes 
in  a  few  days  the  whole  face  of  the  industrial  world,  an  elec- 
tion changes  the  personnel  of  a  government,  and  perhaps  re- 
verses its  policy. 

(3)  In  the  social  organism,  the  interdependence  of  the  origi- 
nal elements  and  their  aggregates  becomes  even  closer  than  in 
the  biological  organism.     Really,  the  limited  independence  of 
each  part  or  organ  in  the  animal  is  quite  as  remarkable  as  its 
dependence.     In  society,  the  industrial  activity,  for  instance, 
responds  at  once  to  the  least  change  in  any  of  the  factors  that 
enter  into  it,  and  all  the  other  forms  of  social  activity  are  af- 
fected with  that  which  is  properly  industrial.     The  interde- 
pendence of  social  functions  and  social  groups  is  so  great  as  to 
transform  the  whole  process  of  evolution.    There  is  a  survival 
of  the  fittest  man  in  the  tribe,  but  each  member  is  cared  for  by 
the  tribe.     The  fittest  tribe  survives,  but  each  tribe  speedily 
adopts  from  its  opponents  their  superior  weapons  and  even 
their  superior  organization.    The  result  of  the  extreme  sensi- 
tiveness of  each  element  in  society  to  the  state  of  each  other 
element,  is  to  overbalance  any  lack  of  union  which  might  re- 


68  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

suit  from  the  more  flexible  and  variable  character  of  social 
units,  and  even  to  utilize  that  flexibility  in  behalf  of  a  more 
intimate  common  life. 

(4)  The  differences  so  far  considered  have  been  only  relative, 
but  the  final  distinction  is  qualitative  and  essential.  In  the 
animal,  consciousness  is  an  attribute  of  the  whole  organism. 
In  a  society,  consciousness  remains  centred  in  the  discrete  in- 
dividual elements.  When  men's  thoughts  come  to  move  in  the 
same  channel,  and  a  group  learns  its  own  unity,  we  speak  of 
a  "  social  consciousness  "  ;  but  the  phrase  never  means  that  a 
society  has  a  brain  or  a  consciousness  apart  from  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  men  who  compose  it.  The  present  difference  be- 
comes even  more  marked  in  the  process  of  development,  for  the 
animal  development  has  meant  a  concentration  of  the  more  im- 
portant nervous  elements,  and  a  merging  of  their  separate  ac- 
tivity into  the  common  activity  of  a  single  consciousness.  In 
the  lower  stages  of  society  bodies  of  men  are  more  easily 
swayed  by  a  single  common  thought  or  emotion — as  when  the 
mob  first  worshipped  J*aul  and  Barnabas  as  gods,  and  then 
drove  them  from  the  city.  The  development  of  society  in- 
volves the  development  of  individuality  in  each  of  its  mem- 
bers, inasmuch  as  the  growth  of  a  larger  common  life  is  the  con- 
dition of  a  truer  and  deeper  self -consciousness.  The  history 
of  industry  is  the  history  of  increasing  industrial  liberty  and 
increasing  responsibility  for  the  individual.  The  strong  gov- 
ernment rests  on  the  sense  of  citizenship  it  has  developed  in 
the  governed.  In  a  word,  the  development  of  society  is  a  de- 
velopment of  persons  ;  the  "  social  consciousness  "  only  exists 
in  the  discrete  social  elements  which  have  become  individual. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS  OF  SOCIETY :  LOCALITY  AND  RACE 

The  Physical  Basis  of  Life — The  Physical  Basis  of  Society — Physical 
Factors  :  Locality  and  Race. 

I.  Effect  of  Locality.     1.  Effect  of  the  Contour  of  the  Earth's  Surface  : 

Contour  determines  (a)  the  SJTP^  nf  the,  Snpinl  Or^np1  (J)  the  Iso- 
lation of  Social  Groups,  and  (c)  the  Lines  of  Social  Movement.  2. 
Influence  of  Climate  :  Light,  Temperature,  Moisture.  3.  Society 
is  Modified  by  What  it  Uses  :  (a)  Inorganic  Materials,  (6)  Fauna, 
(c)  Vegetation. 

II.  E fleet' of Jiace.     The   Principle  of  Heredity — Real   and   fictitious 
Blood-relationship — What  is  a  Race  ?  (a)  A  Group  of  Men  living 
Together ;  (6)  A  Group  of  Common  Stock ;  (c)  A  large  Group  in 
which  Resemblance  of  the  Members  is  referred  to  Heredity. 

Race  Expansion  :  Theory  of  Population — Present  Increase  of  Popula- 
tion in  Europe — Increase  of  Population  in  Uncivilized  Societies — 
Race  Persistence. 

The  Physical  Basis  of  Life. — Society  has  been  called 
the  third  stage  of  the  aggregation  of  matter.  Such  lan- 
guage is  scarcely  necessary  to  bring  out  clearly  the  fact 
that  the  life  of  society,  like  all  other  life,  has  a  physical 
basis*.  Modern  physiology  attempts  to  show  that  all  the 
phenomena  of  life,  the  sensitive  and  psychical  as  well  as 
the  purely  vegetative,  are  simply  new  transformations  and 
combinations  of  physical  energy.1  From  this  standpoint 
there  is  no  peculiar  life-force,  nor  is  there  any  part  or 
function  of  the  animal  that  is  regarded  as  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  physical  sciences.  All  the  energy  received  by 
the  animal  is  appropriated  from  its  physical  environment, 
and  returns  when  expended  to  the  fixed  fund  of  energy  in 

lE.g.  Huxley,  Lay  Sermons,  Essay  vii. ;  Claude  Bernard,  Lefons 
sur  Ics  pJienomenes  de  la  vie,  p.  22,  sqq. 

69 


70  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

the  world.  If  science  is  ever  to  understand  life  completely, 
it  will  simply  be  the  complete  statement  of  the  transforma- 
tions of  energy  which  make  up  the  life-process. 

The  Physical  Basis  of  Society. — Similarly,  if  there  is 
to  be  a  physical  science  of  society,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
show  that  all  the  distinctively  social  phenomena  have  a 
physical  basis,  and  can  be  stated  in  terms  of  physical  science 
as  transformations  of  physical  energy.  Physical  science  ad- 
mits no  peculiar  social  force,  and  it  does  not  hesitate  to 
offer  its  explanation  of  energy  and  activity  as  they  appear 
in  the  social  world.  This  energy  depends  immediately  on 
the  capacity  of  the  individuals  of  which  the  society  is  com- 
posed. Its  character  and  amount  are  determined  primarily 
by  the  individuals,  secondly  by  the  power  of  union  between 
these  individuals,  and  thirdly  by  the  environment  ifl  which 
they  are  placed.  This  energy,  too,  is  appropriated  from 
the  physical  universe,  and  is  returned  to  this  when  ex- 
pended. No  part  or  function  of  social  life  lacks  this  physi- 
cal basis,  the  study  of  which  is  the  proper  sphere  of  physi- 
cal science.  The  truth  of  this  study  of  society  from  the 
physical  standpoint  may  be  admitted  without  at  all  over- 
looking the  fact  that  this  is  not  the  whole  story,  even  if  it 
does  cover  the  whole  ground.  Other  lines  of  approach 
may  yield  new  truth  and  shed  new  light  on  the  matter, 
beyond  what  is  accessible  by  the  methods  of  pure  physical 
science.1 

Physical  Factors :  Race  and  Locality.  —  From  the 
physical  standpoint  men  may  be  grouped  according  to  race 

1  In  the  study  of  society,  it  is  important  to  guard  against  the  notion 
that  physical  life  and  psychical  life  have  no  relation  to  each  other. 
The  same  facts  in  nature  may  be  studied  from  the  standpoint  of  physi- 
cal science  and  by  its  method;  and  they  may  be  studied  from  the 
standpoint  of  psychology  and  history  and  by  the  methods  of  these  sci- 
ences. The  same  double  method  is  necessary,  e.g.  in  the  study  of 
musical  phenomena;  the  physics  of  sound  offers  its  explanations  of  all 
the  facts,  while  aesthetics  studies  the  same  facts  from  a  different  stand- 
point and  judges  them  by  a  different  standard.  A  clear  statement  of 
the  critical  view  of  the  relation  between  physical  and  psychical  phe- 
nomena may  be  found  in  Riehl,  Philosophischer  Kriticismus,  II.  2,  pp. 
176,  sqq.  (Eng.  tr.,  Science  and  Metaphysics,  pp.  167,  sqq.) 


THE   PHYSICAL  BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  71 

or  according  to  locality.  Physically,  the  life  and  growth 
of  society  are  to  be  explained  in  terms  of  these  two  factors. 
A  race  is  as  it  were  a  "social  organism"  or  a  part  in  some 
such  organism  ;  the  locality  is  the  physical  environment  in 
which  this  so-called  organism  develops.  The  two  stand  in 
reciprocal  relation,  just  as  the  eye  is  related  to  light  or  the 
stomach  to  food.  This  relationship  is  so  complex  that  it 
is  ordinarily  impossible  to  trace  particular  effects  to  par- 
ticular causes.  The  discussion  in  regard  to  such  a  rela- 
tively simple  matter  as  race  color  illustrates  this.  In  gen- 
eral the  darkest  races  are  found  in  regions  rather  low  and 
not  far  from  the  equator.  Very  wild  guesses  have  been 
hazarded  to  account  for  the  dark  color ;  perhaps  a  fair 
sample  of  these  is  the  theory  that  it  is  due  to  an  excess  of 
carbon  in  the  system,  and  that  this  is  caused  by  the  quality 
of  the  air !  Science  is  limited  to  the  general  statement, 
and  can  only  prove  that  climate  has  a  slight  tendency  to 
modify  color.1 

I.  EFFECT  OF  LOCALITY 


"  Inorganic  nature,  even  the  lowest  and  the  least  com- 
plex, is  the  matrix,  where  are  fertilized  and  developed  the 
germs  of  all  social  forms  and  organisms,  which  .  .  . 
gradually  rise  .  .  .  and  develop  out  of  the  necessity 
of  the  physical  medium  from  which  they  came/'2  Prog- 
ress in  civilization  involves  an  increasing  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  nature  and  of  the  means  of  utilizing  natural 
forces.  Among  the  lowest  races  man's  life  seems  to  be  an 
almost  passive  element,  moulded  by  the  natural  forces  of 
its  environment.  Mountains  and  seas  are  impassable  ; 
drought  means  famine,  disease  means  death ;  no  real  re- 
sistance to  the  powers  of  nature  is  possible.  Civilization 
does  not  change  natural  laws,  but  it  enables  man  to  use 
these  laws.  Man  cannot  rise  above  his  environment,  but, 

1  Waitz,  Anthropologie^  I.  38,  sqq. 

*  De  Greef,  Introduction  a  la  Sociologie,  I.  50. 


72  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

by  means  of  the  power  that  has  been  developed  in  society, 
he  does  rise  by  using  the  forces  which  at  first  had  blocked 
his  progress.  The  sea  becomes  his  highway  and  mountains 
are  tunnelled.  Disease  is  grappled  with,  the  means  of  sus- 
taining life  become  more  various  and  are  more  carefully 
husbanded,  so  that  the  average  length  of  life  has  been  con- 
stantly and  materially  lengthened. — These  effects  of  climate, 
food,  etc.,  are  the  more  difficult  to  study  because  they  are 
never  simple  but  are  modified  by  the  constantly  changing 
nature  of  man.  The  subject  is  an  important  part  of  soci- 
ology, because  it  is  not  the  individual  as  such,  but  rather 
the  society  or  group  or  race,  which  reacts  to  the  influences 
of  environment. 

The  factors  of  the  physical  environment  of  society  may 
naturally  be  discussed  under  three  heads : — (1)  the  effect 
of  the  contour  of  the  earth's  surface,  (2)  the  effect  of  cli- 
mate, and  (3)  the  effect  of  the  things  directly  utilized  by 
man,  both  inorganic  and  organic.  Under  the  first  heading 
there  fall  influences  which  affect  a  social  group  as  a  whole  ; 
under  the  second  and  third,  influences  which  directly  affect 
individuals,  and  through  them  modify  the  character  of  the 
societies  which  they  constitute. 

i.  Effect  of  the  Contour  of  the  Earth's  Surface.— Two 
eminent  geologists,  B.v.Cotta  and  Zittel,  have  explained 
the  most  striking  difference  between  the  French  and  the 
German  peoples  as  the  result  of  the  contour  of  their  re- 
spective lands.  Paris  is  almost  in  the  centre  of  a  large 
basin  including  more  than  half  of  France  ;  by  nature  it  is 
the  political  centre  and  the  economic  centre  of  all  that 
region.  Certainly  this  configuration  of  the  country  has  been 
one  factor  in  producing  the  historic  unity  of  France.  Not 
only  has  the  unity  of  the  nation  remained  for  centuries  un- 
threatened,  but  the  life  of  the  people  is  far  more  centralized 
than  is  the  life  of  other  European  peoples.  The  industrial 
centre  is  Paris,  and  no  other  city  has  a  commercial  activity 
in  any  sense  independent  of  its  relation  to  Paris.  There  are 
no  "  states  "  in  France,  no  "  districts  "  in  Central  France, 


THE  PHYSICAL   BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  73 

which  are  distinct  enough  to  be  known  to  the  outside 
world.  Education,  literature,  and  art,  all  centre  in  the 
capital ;  here  the  standard  of  aesthetic  judgment  is  deter- 
mined, and  hither  the  artist  or  student  must  come  to  find 
recognition  for  his  work. — The  North  German  plain  is  the 
only  considerable  geological  district  in  Germany  ;  and  each 
of  the  small  districts  has  developed  its  own  peculiar  cus- 
toms and  industries,  its  own  mode  of  thought,  and  its  own 
ideals.  It  is  impossible  that  the  common  life  of  the  people, 
or  its  national  life,  should  be  so  centralized  as  in  France.1 
The  attempt  to  explain  a  people  by  its  land  is  almost  sure 
to  end  in  gross  exaggeration,  but  this  is  due  to  a  tendency 
of  human  nature,  not  to  any  weakness  of  the;  method. 

(a)  Contour  determines  the  Size  of  a  Social  Group. — 
The  physical  configuration  of  the  surface  is  an  important 
factor  in  determining  the  size  of  the  social  group.  It  is 
one  of  the  earliest  dictums  of  the  science  of  history  that 
mountain-ranges  separate,  and  rivers  unite.  Switzerland 
is  a  country  of  cantons  ;  walls  of  rock  separating  narrow 
valleys  prescribe  definite  and  absolute  limits  to  many  of 
its  villages.  The  population  which  any  valley  can  sustain 
is  determined  ;  and  if  the  town  grows  beyond  a  certain 
limit,  emigration  is  necessary,  or  the  standard  of  living  is 
lowered.  This  dilemma  is  so  clear  when  it  is  presented 
on  a  small  scale  that  the  thrifty  peasant  limits  the  number 
of  his  children  in  order  that  they  may  live  without  change 
of  place  in  the  same  degree  of  comfort  which  he  enjoys. 
— In  the  East  the  absence  of  barriers  in  the  large  river 
basins  made  possible  their  influence  in  human  history. 
The  rich  plains  of  the  Nile  and  the  Euphrates  naturally 
fostered  large  masses  of  men.  Apart  from  the  ease  with 
which  man's  wants  were  supplied  in  the  river  valleys  of 
warm  countries,  the  physical  fact  of  a  considerable  area 
sheltered  from  outside  interference  and  easily  traversed  by 
water  or  by  land,  rendered  such  basins  the  natural  seats 
of  early  despotic  civilizations. 

1  Honegger,  Allgemeine  Kulturgeschichte,  1.  182. 


74  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

(b)  Contour  determines  the  Isolation  of  a  Social  Group. 
— Farther,  the  physical  configuration  determines  in  large 
measure  the  isolation  of  the  social  group.     Traces  of  the 
oldest  civilization  in  Europe  are  found  in  deep  valleys  of 
the  Alps,  which  are  so  effectually  separated  that  the  people 
in  one  valley  cannot  easily  understand  the  language  of 
those  in  the  next  valley,  and  have  an  entirely  different 
moral  standard.1    Bohemia  is  so  surrounded  by  mountain- 
ranges  that  the  culture  of  its  people  has  been  effectually 
isolated  ;  the  Czechs  are  surrounded  on  every  side  by  Ger- 
mans, but  their  unity  and  national  life  have  not  been- mate- 
rially affected  even  by  political  union  with  a  German  people. 
As  an  example  of  the  other  side  of  this  fact,  the  geograph- 
ical position  of  Greece  and  its  opportunities  for  contact 
with  other  peoples,  were  a  necessary  condition  of  the  de- 
velopment of  Greek  civilization.     It  is  to  be  noted  that 
every  Capital  city  in  Europe  is  a  port  with  direct  access  to 
the  sea.     Home's  power  is  not  explained  by  referring  to 
seven  hills  on  the  bank  of  a  river,  not  far  from  its  mouth, 
but  it  is  evident  enough  that  the  rise  and  extension  of  this 
power  depended  largely  on  the  natural  facilities  for  inter- 
course with  other  nations. 

(c)  Contour  determines  the  Lines  of  Social  Movement. 
— Finally,  the  contour  of  the  surface  determines  the  lines 
of  social  movement.     Physical  forces  always  follow  the 
lines  of  least  resistance.     This  is  true  alike  of  the  projec- 
tile's regular  curve,  and  the  lightning's  jagged  path.     The 
primitive  horde  gradually  forms  beaten  tracks  about  its 
abode.    These  tracks,  and  in  fact  all  intercourse  with  other 
peoples,  are  determined  by  the  easiest  courses,  and  neces- 
sarily avoid  all  obstacles.     Civilization  and  culture  follow 
these  same  lines,  for  they  can  only  go  where  social  and 
economic  intercourse  have  preceded.     Caravans  still  trav- 
erse natural  courses  from  Egypt  into  Palestine,  and  from 
Babylonia  up  to  Syria.     These  ancient  avenues  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  even  the  direction  which  civilization  should  take, 

1  Marshall,  Principles  of  Economics,  I.  p.  260,  11.  1. 


THE   PHYSICAL  BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  75 

were  determined  by  the  contour  of  the  earth's  surface. 
War  and  conquest  have  always  followed  lines  marked  out 
for  them  beforehand.  Ancient  and  modern  migrations  have 
been  similarly  directed.  Sometimes  the  course  of  an  an- 
cient horde  overrunning  a  part  of  Europe,  can  be  followed 
in  detail,  and  each  deviation  from  a  straight  course  is  ex- 
plained  by  natural  obstacles,  or  by  the  physical  strength  of 
those  already  in  possession  of  the  soil.1  To-day,  emigra- 
tion is  from  some  crowded  quarter  to  the  spot  which 
seems  to  offer  opportunity  for  an  easier  and  richer  life. 
Every  redistribution  of  the  parts  of  society  has  its  physi- 
cal side,  and,  like  any  redistribution  of  matter,  it  follows 
the  lines  of  least  resistance.  "  The  final  and  highest 
truths  of  the  geographical  sciences  are  included  in  the 
statement  that  the  structure  of  the  earth's  surface,  and 
the  differences  of  climate  dependent  upon  it,  visibly  rule 
the  course  of  development  for  our  race,  and  have  deter- 
mined the  path  for  the  changes  of  the  seats  of  culture ;  so 
that  a  glance  at  the  earth's  surface  permits  us  to  see  the 
course  of  human  history  as  determined  (or,  one  may  say, 
purposed)  from  the  beginning,  in  the  distribution  of  land 
and  water,  of  plains  and  heights/'  * 

2.  Influence  of  Climate:  Light,  Temperature,  and 
Moisture. — The  second  group  of  external  influences  affect- 
ing the  development  of  a  race  are  denoted  by  the  word 
"climate";  and  (a)  first  among  these  climatic  influences  I 
would  mention  light.  The  length  of  day  may  vary  but 
slightly  the  year  through,  or  the  whole  summer  may  be  a 
day  and  all  the  winter  a  night.  This  of  course  affects 
social  life,  and  in  itself  makes  the  polar  regions  very  un- 
favorable to  the  development  of  culture.  Again,  the 
absence  of  light  from  a  tropical  forest,  as  well  as  the 
absence  of  protection  from  the  rays  of  the  sun  on  desert 
sands,  can  but  affect  the  life  of  the  individual  and  the  hab- 
its of  the  tribe. — (b)  A  second  climatic  factor  is  tempera- 

1  Humboldt,  quoted  by  Honegger,  Kulturgeschichte,  I.  184. 
1  Fescbel,  Geschichte  der  Erdkunde,  S.  zv. 


76  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

tare :  its  absolute  height,  its  range  of  variations,  arid  the 
rapidity  of  its  variations.  The  average  height  of  tempera- 
ture has  a  two-fold  effect :  direct,  in  that  life  requires  far 
more  to  sustain  it  in  colder  regions,  and  indirect,  in  that 
this  nourishment  is  far  more  difficult  to  obtain  in  such 
regions.  It  requires  comparatively  little  to  sustain  life  in 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  for  instance,  and  the  necessary  fish 
and  bananas  cost  little  effort.  The  general  effect  of  a 
decidedly  low  temperature  on  man  or  animals,  is  to  decrease 
the  stature  perceptibly,  and  to  check  rapidity  of  develop- 
ment, both  physical  and  psychical.  Among  the  Esqui- 
maux, as  among  those  Peruvians  who  dwell  at  a  great 
height  above  the  sea,  the  average  stature  is  decidedly  be- 
low the  normal.  Near  the  equator  children  are  more  pre- 
cocious than  in  the  temperate  zone,  and  it  is  in  warm 
countries,  e.g.,  in  Mexico,  that  the  ratio  of  births  to  the 
population  is  greatest.1  These  influences  affect  society 
directly  as  well  as  through  the  individual.  In  the  regions 
of  extreme  cold  co-operation  is  necessary  in  order  to  obtain 
a  livelihood,  while  at  best  the  effort  to  secure  subsistence 
absorbs  all  the  energy  that  is  developed,  so  that  there  is  no 
opportunity  for  progress.  Near  the  equator  the  high  tem- 
perature does  not  favor  the  habit  of  work  ; 2  uniformity  of 
temperature  tends  to  make  monotonous  lives;3  and  with 
every  want  supplied,  man  is  not  obliged  to  co-operate  with 
his  fellows.  The  temperate  zone,  with  moderate  climate  and 
considerable  changes  of  temperature,  proves  most  favorable 
for  the  development  of  man  and  of  society.  Such  a  climate 
makes  many  demands  on  men,  and  permits  the  develop- 
ment of  the  greatest  energy  to  meet  these  demands.  Here 
the  individual  may  attain  his  highest  development,  but  his 
progress  is  conditioned  at  every  step  by  dependence  on  an 
advanced  type  of  society.4 — (c)  A  third  climatic  factor  is 

1  Waitz,  Anthropologie,  I.  43,  sqq.     Heusinger,  Grundziige  d.  vgl. 
Physiologic,  S.  211,  sqq. 
»  Waitz,  I.  395,  sqq. 

3  Crawfurd,  quoted  by  Honegper,  I.  188. 

4  Culm,  System  der  Nationalokonomie,  I.  218,  A.  1. 


THE   PHYSICAL   BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  77 

the  composition  of  the  air,  and  in  particular  the  amount  of 
moisture  it  contains.  A  Greek  proverb  connects  sluggish- 
ness and  mental  indifference  with  those  who  lived  in  the 
wet  lowlands  of  Bceotia.  Much  of  the  African  coast  means 
disease  and  death  to  foreigners  who  are  not  accustomed  to 
its  malarial  breezes.  Rarity  of  the  air,  as  well  as  its  dry- 
ness,  affects  the  throat  and  lungs ;  and  doubtless  this  is  one 
reason  for  the  fact  so  often  asserted,  that  mountain  races 
possess  more  vigor  than  races  that  inhabit  low,  damp 
plains.  Perhaps,  however,  the  most  important  effect  of 
moisture  in  the  air  is  indirect,  and  is  due  to  its  influence 
on  vegetation. 

3.  Society  is  Modified  by  What  it  Uses :  (a)  Inorganic 
Materials. — Thirdly,  the  character  of  society  is  modified 
by  its  locality,  because  the  forms  of  matter  and  of  life, 
which  are  directly  utilized  by  men,  vary  so  much  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  earth.  Animal  and  vegetable  life  depend 
immediately  on  the  presence  of  water.  Man  may  have  rea- 
son to  worship  water  as  the  principle  of  life,  as  in  Greece 
or  ancient  Babylonia  ;  or,  as  in  North  America,  to  regard 
it  as  the  principle  which  hinders  creation,  when  it  suggests 
to  him  impassable  forests  or  marshes.  In  any  case,  life 
and  civilization  depend  upon  its  presence  in  suitable 
amount.  Again,  the  distribution  of  minerals,  especially 
the  metals,  has  had  a  very  important  influence  on  the  de- 
velopment of  society.  The  discovery  of  the  metals  and  of 
methods  of  utilizing  them  had  such  far-reaching  effects 
that  the  phrase  "  iron  age  "  or  "  bronze  age  "  is  still  used 
to  denote  the  new  stage  of  culture  which  was  introduced 
by  the  discovery  and  general  use  of  the  metals.  The  pres- 
ence of  a  clay  suitable  for  pottery  is  more  common,  but 
none  the  less  important.  To-day,  the  existence  of  mineral 
wealth  and  of  coal  determines  the  industry  of  a  country. 
Still  the  direct  influence  of  what  the  soil  contains  is  far  less 
than  the  indirect  effect,  which  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
flora  and  the  fauna  of  a  district  depend  upon  its  soil.1 
1  Marshall,  Principles  of  Economics,  I.  329. 


78  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

(5)  Effect  of  Faww. — Logically,  the  effect  of  vegeta- 
tion would  be  considered  before  the  effect  of  the  fauna  of  a 
region,  but  as  a  matter  of  history,  animal  life  has  become 
a  potent  factor  in  civilization  long  before  vegetable  life. 
Doubtless  roots,  nuts,  and  in  certain  instances  fruits,  were 
the  earliest  food  of  man  ;  but  the  lowest  races  with  which 
we  are  familiar  have  weapons  of  the  chase  as  perhaps 
the  only  implements  of  civilization.  A  hunting  people  ex- 
ists where  there  is  game,  and  approximately  in  such  num- 
bers as  the  game  of  a  given  region  will  support.  \The  do- 
mestication of  animals  is  really  the  beginning  of  progress, 
and  the  first  step  in  progress  is  always  the  most  important. 
The  constantly  recurring  want  of  a  hunting  people  was 
relieved  when  a  regular  supply  of  milk  was  at  hand,  to- 
gether with  flesh  when  that  was  desired.  A  far  larger 
number  of  individuals  could  be  supported  in  the  same 
region,  when  the  animals  that  furnished  food  were  regu- 
larly bred  and  pastured  by  man.  A  broader  and  more  per- 
manent social  life  was  made  possible  when  the  food -supply 
was  a  bond  of  union  instead  of  a  centrifugal  force,  and 
when  property  in  herds  required  union  for  its  defence. 
The  absence  of  animals  suitable  for  domestication  on  the 
American  continent  is  one  reason  for  the  low  state  of  civil- 
ization indigenous  there. 

(c)  Effect  of  Vegetation. — The  vegetation  of  a  country, 
real  and  possible,  is  the  largest  factor  in  determining  the 
form  of  industrial  life.  The  steppes  of  Asia  naturally  fur- 
nish food  for  flocks,  and  a  nomadic  people  occupy  them. 
Kich  plains  in  the  river  valleys  are  utilized  for  agriculture. 
The  discovery  of  the  cereals  suitable  for  food  was  hardly 
less  important  than  the  discovery  of  animals  which  could 
be  domesticated  ;  and  it  marked  an  immense  advance  be- 
yond the  latter  discovery,  because  it  encouraged  a  settled 
life,  and  removed  man  still  farther  from  subjection  to  the 
vicissitudes  of  nature.  A  given  area  devoted  to  agricul- 
ture will  support  a  population  many  times  greater  than 
when  it  is  devoted  to  grazing  purposes.  Moreover,  agri- 


79 

culture  not  only  encourages  a  settled  life,  but  it  almost  de- 
mands a  stable  social  organization.  ^Cereal  food  is  really 
the  basis  of  civilization.  The  effect  of  the  soil,  as  the 
most  important  factor  in  the  industrial  environment,  is  no 
less  to-day  than  in  the  past.  However  we  may  interpret 
the  so-called  Law  of  Diminishing  Returns,  there  is  no 
question  that  a  definite  density  of  population  is  most 
favorable  for  utilizing  the  products  of  the  soil,  and  that 
when  the  population  rises  above  or  falls  below  this  degree 
of  density,  evil  consequences  ensue..1  The  movements  of 
population  also,  both  from  old  to  new  countries,  and  from 
the  country  to  the  city,  are  determined  primarily  by  the 
opportunities  for  cultivating  new  soils  and  by  the  fact 
that  barren  soils  are  thereby  thrown  out  of  cultivation. 

II.  EFFECT  OF  RACE 

The  Principle  of  Heredity* — Environment  alone  is  but 
one  factor  in  the  physical  life  of  society  ;  it  is  equally  neces- 
sary to  study  the  correlative  factor,  the  people  that  live  in 
this  environment.  The  word  f(  race,"  in  spite  of  its  ambig- 
uity, is  commonly  used  to  designate  this  factor ;  and  in 
this  use  it  means  a  group  of  men  whose  physical  nature  is 
enough  alike  to  set  them  off  over  against  other  similar 
groups.  By  far  the  most  important  basis  of  this  similar- 
ity is  due  to  the  principle  of  heredity.  In  children  the 
physical  peculiarities  of  parents  and  of  earlier  generations 
tend  to  reappear,  and  after  all  due  allowance  has  been 
made  for  variations  in  the  type  and  from  the  type,  there 
still  remains  the  fact  that  the  type  of  a  social  group  is 
perpetuated  in  the  children  of  that  group.  It  has  already 
been  pointed  out  that  the  influences  of  the  same  environ- 
ment tend  to  make  men  alike.  When  there  is  added  to 
this  the  fact  that  the  type  of  a  group  tends  to  persist  in 
its  offspring,  the  likeness  which  marks  the  men  of  one 
group  as  a  race  is  fully  accounted  for. 

1  See,  for  example,  Marshall,  Economics,  I.  191,  505  (217). 


80  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

Real  and  Fictitious  Blood-relationship. — The  primary 
fact,  then,  with  reference  to  the  race,  is  that  its  continu- 
ance, if  not  its  origin,  is  a  matter  of  blood-relationship. 
The  physical  character  of  the  individuals  composing  the 
group  is  their  inheritance  from  their  parents  ;  their  indi- 
vidual energy  is  partly  a  matter  of  inheritance,  partly  a 
matter  of  training  by  parents  and  companions  ;  while  the 
habits,  the  needs,  and  the  ends  toward  which  action  is  or- 
dinarily directed,  are  influenced  but  very  slowly,  if  at  all, 
by  environment.  These  characteristics,  which  are  grouped 
under  the  general  name  of  heredity,  may  be  called  the  in- 
ternal factors  correlative  to  the  external  influences  of  en- 
vironment. Blood-relationship  has  a  two-fold  effect  in  the 
formation  of  social  groups  :  (1)  Descendants  of  the  same 
ancestors  have  the  same  physical  nature  and  a  tendency  to 
develop  the  same  psychical  characteristics,  so  that  social 
relations  arise  more  easily  between  them  and  can  become 
more  intimate  than  in  the  case  of  individuals  not  related 
by  blood.  (2)  Children  require  care  from  the  mother  for 
a  considerable  period  in  order  that  they  may  survive  at  all ; 
and  the  common  life  during  this  period  naturally  develops 
into  a  higher  social  life  later.1  With  the  development  of 
the  family,  and  the  distinct  recognition  of  the  importance 
of  the  blood-tie,  the  effect  of  blood-relationship  on  the 
formation  of  social  groups  becomes  far  more  important. 
The  sense  of  relationship  which  originally  is  based  on 
common  blood,  is  soon  extended  to  include  all  members  of 
a  tribe  or  village,  in  fact,  the  time  comes  when  all  sorts  of 
relations  are  brought  under  the  type  of  blood-relationship. 
For  instance,  in  Greece,  members  of  the  same  tribe  or 
pliratry  assumed  a  blood-relationship  in  many  instances 
broader  than  the  facts  warranted,  and  gave  content  to  the 
idea  by  postulating  an  original  ancestor  from  whom  the 
whole  tribe  believed  that  they  were  descended.  The  result 

1  It  is  said  that  among  animals  those  born  of  the  same  mother  live 
together  until  there  is  some  definite  occasion  for  their  separation. 
Espinas.  Societes  animates,  p.  459  sq. 


THE  PHYSICAL   BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  81 

was,  first,  that  the  consciousness  of  tribal  unity  was  devel- 
oped, and  secondly,  that  a  more  rigid  tribal  structure  was 
devised  on  this  basis.  The  extension  of  belief  in  blood- 
relationship  did  not  end  here.  The  connection  between 
different  villages  or  tribes,  the  members  of  which  recog- 
nized a  likeness  to  each  other,  was  brought  under  the  same 
conception ;  the  Greeks  classed  themselves  as  lonians,  Do- 
rians, and  JEolians,  and  traced  these  sub-races  back  to  three 
brothers,  Ion,  Dorus,  and  JEolus.  So  the  Hebrews  recog- 
nized a  common  descent  from  Adam,  who  was  at  the  same 
time  regarded  as  the  ancestor  of  the  whole  human  race. 

What  is  a  Race? — (a)  A  Group  of  Men  living  to- 
gether. —  The  word  "  race "  is  unfortunate  because  it 
raises  so  many  Questions,  about  which  there  exists  no 
unanimity  of  opinion.  It  certainly  denotes  the  fact  that 
men  are  bound  together  by  something  more,  by  something 
that  lies  deeper  in  their  nature,  than  mere  physical  con- 
tiguity. But  while  this  truth  cannot  be  denied  and  we 
continue  to  use  the  word  "  race  "  to  denote  it,  still  ethnolo- 
gists have  come  to  no  agreement  as  to  what  constitutes  a 
race,  and  there  is  dispute  even  as  to  the  extent  of  acknowl- 
edged races.  Considered  as  a  group  of  men  subject  to 
the  influences  of  a  commcm  environment  the  lowest  unit 
hardly  deserves  the  name  race  at  all.  It  is  clear  that 
under  ordinary  conditions  men  can  only  live  in  groups 
strong  enough  to  protect  themselves ;  the  unarmed  indi- 
vidual is  no  match  for  other  animals,  even  if  he  is  able 
to  obtain  food  and  to  protect  himself  against  inclemencies 
of  the  weather.  Moreover,  these  groups  must  be  small 
enough  so  that  the  members  can  work  together,  and  not 
too  large  to  find  a  supply  of  food  in  a  comparatively 
limited  area.  Such  «(  unit,  which  we  may  call  the  tribe, 
is  the  actual  working  unit  of  early  society ;  in  it  is  de- 
veloped and  perpetuated  the  culture  by  which  it  comes  to 
be  essentially  different  from  other  tribes.  This  semi- 
political  unit  may  contain  individuals  of  such  different 
character  and  antecedents  that  they  are  to  be  classified 


82  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

under  different  races,  but  in  moat  cases  a  real  likeness 
lies  at  the  basis  of  the  group,  and  is  farther  developed 
by  the  common  life.  On  the  other  hand,  the  race,  as 
the  term  is  ordinarily  used,  will  frequently  extend  beyond 
the  tribe,  for  the  tribe  is  definitely  limited  in  number  by 
its  circumstances,  while  a  prolific  stock  may  speedily 
exceed  these  bounds,  and  make  necessary  a  division  of  the 
tribe. 

(b)  A  Group  of  Common  Stock. — Within  the  tribe,  the 
existence  of  which  might  be  accounted  for  independently 
of  relationship,  there  is  always  at  work  the  force  of  hered- 
ity.    We  have  already  seen  that  while  this  force  works  di- 
rectly within  a  limited  sphere,  its  power  is  at  length  recog- 
nized and  is  extended  by  a  fiction  to  the  whole  of  the  group. 
The  tribe  as  a  physical  unit,  which  at  first  was  held  to- 
gether by  pressure  from  outside,  comes  to  be  one  in  blood, 
or  at  least  in  a  fictitious  blood-relationship.     This  second 
type  of  physical  group  may  be  much  larger  than  the  first, 
for,  it  is  often  extended  beyond  one  locality  to  an  entire 
region. 

(c)  A  Large  Group  in  which  Resemblance  is  explained 
by  Heredity. — The  word  "race/'  however,  is  more  com- 
monly used  to  denote  a  third  fact,  namely  a  class  of  men 
who  in  all  essential  points  resemble  each  other.     From 
this  standpoint  race  unity  is  simply  a  matter  of  likeness, 
and  the  student  may  draw  the  line  much  as  he  chooses ; 
it  depends  largely  on  his  temperament  whether  he  makes 
a  few  large  races  or  numerous  small  races.     As  defined 
in  this  way  the  race  has  but  little  importance  for  sociology 
except  in  so  far  as  the  persistence  of  race  characteristics 
is  an  important  factor  in  the  development  of  culture. 
Looking  back  over  the  course  of  history  we  naturally 
speak  of  the  work  of  the  Hebrew  race,  or  of  the  Greece 
race,  and  we  postulate  a  genius  of  the  race  as  the  cor- 
relate of  the  work  which  it  has  accomplished.     In  these 
instances,  however,  and  generally  when  the  race  has  ac- 
complished some  definite  mission,  the  unity  of  the  race  is 


THE   PHYSICAL  BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  83 

no  mere  fiction  of  the  scientist,  but  has  come  to  be  recog- 
nized by  the  race  itself.  A  race  which  is  conscious  of  it- 
self becomes  thereby  an  actual  unit  in  society,  and  its 
institutions  will  bear  the  race-mark  with  increasing  dis- 
tinctness. 

"•""Race  Expansion  :  Theory  of  Population. — It  only  re- 
mains to  consider  the  facts  of  race  persistence  and  race 
expansion,  facts  which  are  essentially  of  the  same  character 
whatever  be  the  unit  to  which  the  name  "  race  "  is  applied. 
The  so-called  doctrine  of  population  is  an  attempt  to  state 
these  facts.  Speaking  roughly,  we  may  say  that  the 
growth  of  population  is  determined  by  the  food-supply. 
As  Malthus  pointed  out,  plants  as  well  as  animals  tend  to 
reproduce  themselves  and  multiply  with  extreme  rapidity  ; 
but  the  land  available  for  wheat-culture  is  limited,  and 
only  a  limited  number  of  animals  can  find  food,  accordingly 
the  available  food-supply  for  man  has  only  a  limited  in- 
crease from  year  to  year.  But  man,  like  any  other  animal, 
tends  to  multiply  far  more  rapidly  than  the  food-supply 
would  warrant,  and  unless  this  growth  is  hindered  in  other 
ways,  famine  and  pestilence  will  prove  a  most  effective 
check.  There  are  a  few  races  which  seem  to  have  become 
unprolific,  so  that  they  are  actually  dying  out ;  apart  from 
these  exceptional  cases,  every  race  known  to  us  has  the 
capacity  of  multiplying  much  faster  than  the  food-supply 
increases  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  net  increase  is 
frequently  far  in  advance  of  the  increase  in  food -supply  of 
a  given  region.  Malthus  claimed  that  the  natural  positive 
checks  formerly  effective — war,  famine,  infanticide,  etc. — 
were  becoming  less  and  less  operative,  and  that  if  society 
did  not  voluntarily  limit  the  number  added  to  it,  misery 
would  constantly  increase,  and  the  race  would  degenerate 
instead  of  making  progress. 

Present  Increase  of  Population  in  Europe. — To-day  Eu- 
rope has  a  considerably  larger  population  than  its  lands 
will  support,  as  they  are  at  present  cultivated,  and  the 
present  net  increase  of  two  and  a  half  millions  a  year  can- 


84 


INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 


not  continue  indefinitely  to  find  support  from  other  sources. 
The  more  careful  study  of  statistics  in  recent  years  seems 
to  show  that  Malthus's  discussion  of  "  natural/'  "positive  " 
checks,  was  imperfect,  and  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  net 
increase  in  population  follows  quite  accurately  the  increased 
means  of  subsistence.  According  to  figures  quoted  by  Pro- 
fessor Marshall,  from  the  Statistical  Journal  for  1885,  the 
net  increase  per  thousand  is,  in  general,  quite  independent 
of  the  number  of  births  per  thousand.  A  few  figures,  se- 
lected from  these  tables,  are  sufficient  to  show  the  drift 
of  the  whole. 


Russia. 

Hun- 
gary. 

Saxony. 

Bavaria. 

Italy. 

Eng- 
land. 

Sweden. 

France. 

Births  

49.4 

43. 

42.4 

39.5 

36.8 

85.1 

30.2 

25.4 

Deaths  .... 

35.7 

38.2 

29. 

80.6 

29.1 

21.4 

18.9 

23.8 

Net  in- 

crease .  .  . 

13.7 

4.8 

13.4 

8.9 

7.7 

13.7 

11.3 

1.6 

Apart  from  the  exceptional  case  of  France,  these  figures 
seem  to  show :  (1)  that  the  birth-rate  of  each  people  is 
more  than  sufficient  to  produce  the  number  who  can  find 
subsistence  under  the  conditions  now  actually  existing ;  (2) 
that  the  death-rate  rapidly  increases  with  the  larger  birth- 
rate, so  that  the  net  increase  corresponds  closely  to  the  in- 
creased means  of  sustaining  human  life  ;  (3)  that,  in  gen- 
eral, the  larger  increase  in  population  does  not  correspond 
with  an  increase  to  misery  and  degradation.  It  is  only  in 
Russia  that  the  rapid  increase  has  proved  to  be  a  source  of 
danger,  and  perhaps  of  decline.1 

Increase  of  Population  in  Uncivilized  Societies. — There 
can  be  no  question  that  these  facts,  proved  by  statistics  for 
modern  Europe,  are,  in  the  main,  true  of  primitive  society. 
There  has  always  been  the  same  lavish  supply  of  human 
life,  the  same  pressure  of  population  upon  food-supply, 

1  A.  Dumont,  Depopulation  et  civilisation,  Paris,  1890,  gives  an 
interesting  discussion  of  the  special  case  of  France,  as  well  as  further 
statistics  with  reference  to  the  general  problem.  The  main  value  of 
the  work  lies  in  its  careful  analvsis  of  local  statistics  in  France. 


THE   PHYSICAL  BASIS   OF   SOCIETY  85 

leading  to  rapid  expansion  with  every  new  source  of  food  ; 
and  though  we  may  not  be  able  to  explain  it,  this  pressure 
of  population  upon  food-supply  has  not,  as  a  rule,  been  so 
close  as  to  produce  misery  and  degradation.  The  check  to 
real  over-population  is  very  severe,  but  actual  famine  is 
generally  due  to  vicissitude  in  the  supply  of  food  rather 
than  to  over-population.  We  may  suppose  that  in  primi- 
tive society,  as  in  later  times,  population  would  vary  only 
slightly  while  the  sources  of  food  remain  the  same ;  that  in 
places  where  the  food-supply  is  very  abundant,  the  popu- 
lation would  rapidly  increase,  and  that  this  expansion  would 
result  in  emigration  to  districts  less  favored  ;  finally,  that 
every  new  device  or  practice  which  makes  the  food-supply 
more  abundant  and  more  constant,  would  occasion  a  rapid 
increase  in  population. 

Race  Persistence. — There  are  thus  two  factors  determi- 
ning the  life  of  society,  when  this  is  considered  from  the 
physical  standpoint :  the  external  factor  of  locality,  and 
the  internal  factor  of  heredity.  The  influences  of  locality 
are  very  strong  in  determining  the  course  of  social  move- 
ments and  the  character  of  social  organization.  In  a  new 
environment  the  individual  develops  differently,  new  modes 
of  social  activity  arise,  and  the  institutions  that  have  orig- 
inated under  other  circumstances  may  be  profoundly  mod- 
ified. After  all  this  has  been  said,  the  facts  of  race  per- 
sistence remain  and  cannot  be  neglected.  Two  races  may 
be  crossed  and  become  blended  into  one,  as  has  been  the 
case  in  Mexico,  or  the  weaker  race  may  gradually  die  away 
before  the  stronger.  But  the  influences  of  locality  alone 
have  never  been  sufficient  to  assimilate  two  really  different 
races  ;  in  America  the  power  of  the  same  climate,  the  samo 
language,  and  the  same  social  institutions,  has  not  yet 
proved  sufficient  by  itself  to  obliterate  former  differences 
between  Indo-European  races.  Without  accepting  the 
results  of  those  writers  who  profess  to  be  able  to  analyze 
the  population  of  England  or  of  France  into  numerous 
distinct  ethnic  elements,  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the 


86  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

effect  of  locality  on  the  influences  that  are  grouped  under 
the  name  of  heredity,  is  measured  only  by  centuries  or 
by  tens  of  centuries,  and  that  new  and  higher  races  are 
generally  formed  by  the  amalgamation  of  races  originally 
distinct. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ASSOCIATION:    THE  RELATION  OF  MEN  IN   SOCIETY 

The  Social  Group  not  merely  Physical.  1.  Bonds  of  Feeling  :  Man  not 
a  Social  Animal  by  Nature ;  Influences  for  and  against  Sociability ; 
Sentiment  as  a  Social  Bond.  2.  Bonds  of  Common  Function; 
The  Unity  of  a  Biological  Organ  is  a  Unity  of  Function ;  The 
Unity  of  the  Social  Group  a  Unity  of  Function — Social  Evolution 
involves  Differentiation  of  Activities  and  of  Groups — In  this  pro- 
cess the  Bonds  uniting  Men  become  more  Definite,  Various,  Per- 
manent— Solidarity  of  the  Family  Increased  in  the  new  forms  of 
Social  Activity — Increase  in  extent  of  Expansive  Social  Groups. 

1.  Attractive  Forces,  based  in  Feeling.  2.  Functional  Bonds,  due  to 
Common  Activity,  a  part  of  the  Psychical  character  of  the  In- 
dividual. 

Meaning  of  "Association."  Conditions  favoring  Association.  In- 
fluence on  Association  of  Locality,  of  Race.  Social  and  Psychical 
Factors  favoring  Association  (Vocation,  Rank,  etc.). 

The  Social  Group  not  merely  Physical. — In  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  the  social  group  has  been  considered  as  a 
physical  object  determined  by  physical  causes;  but  the 
unity  of  a  social  group  is  not  fully  explained  by  saying 
that  it  was  "  made  so  from  outside/'  or  that  it  was  "  born 
so."  To  stop  here,  is  to  let  the  lower  truth  take  the  place 
of  the  higher — a  result  that  is  fatal  to  all  science.  Chem- 
istry and  physics  do  not  take  the  place  of  biology,  though 
familiarity  with  these  sciences  is  the  necessary  basis  of  any 
advance  to  a  broader  and  more  scientific  biology.  The 
physiology  of  the  brain  is  the  basis  of  a  true  psychology ; 
it  can  never  take  the  place  of  psychology  and  logic,  but  it 
is  rather  the  condition  of  progress  in  these  branches.  Sim- 
ilarly the  study  of  society  from  the  physical  side  is  only  the 
basis  of  a  study  that  is  both  broader  and  more  direct.  A 

87 


88  INTRODUCTION   TO  SOCIOLOGY 

society  is  a  group  of  men ;  as  such  it  must  be  studied  and 
explained,  if  sociology  is  to  be  more  than  an  empty  name. 

i.  Bonds  of  Feeling :  Man  not  naturally  a  Social 
Animal. — Two  theories,  frequently  advanced  with  refer- 
ence to  the  relation  of  men  in  society,  are  suggested  by  the 
phrases,  "  man  a  social  animal,"  and  "  social  cohesion." 
The  study  of  society  has  often  begun  and  ended  with  the 
statement  that  man  is  a  social  animal,  as  though  this  were 
a  fact  too  familiar  to  need  discussion  or  criticism.  Cer- 
tainly civilization  makes  man  pre-eminently  the  social  ani- 
mal (£<3ov  TroAmKoV),  but  by  nature  he  may  be  a  very  differ- 
ent being.  The  study  of  uncivilized  races  to-day  shows 
clearly  that  this  is  possible  ;  the  lower  type  of  Veddahs  in 
Ceylon  and  of  Hottentots  in  Africa  live  in  scattered  groups 
of  two  or  three  or  four,  with  no  more  sociability  than  is 
found  among  gorillas.  If  man  is  not  necessarily  and  uni- 
versally a  social  being,  the  phrase  demands  investigation 
before  it  can  be  accepted  as  the  whole  philosophy  of 
society. 

Influences  for  and  against  Sociability. — In  truth,  both 
social  and  unsocial  tendencies  are  at  work  in  each  stage 
of  social  development ;  some  forces  tending  to  draw  men 
closer  together  in  society,  and  others  tending  to  break  up 
the  societies  thus  formed.  In  the  world  of  any  creature, 
those  of  its  own  kind  are  the  most  prominent  objects, 
the  beings  about  which  sentiments  of  aversion  or  of  pleas- 
ure are  sure  to  cluster.  In  early  stages  of  civilization  jeal- 
ousy appears  at  least  as  soon  and  as  commonly  as  sympathy, 
and  anger  is  by  no  means  a  product  of  civilization.  Tho 
bitterest  conflicts  arise  among  those  who  are  seeking  tho 
same  thing,  so  that  association  itself  leads  to  strife,  and 
even  in  the  effort  to  unite,  men  are  driven  farther  apart. 
But  oftentimes  co-operation  is  the  only  means  of  obtaining 
any  success ;  the  individual  alone  cannot  protect  himself 
against  attack,  nor  can  he  win  from  nature  the  means  of 
subsistence.  Under  such  circumstances  the  feeling  of 
loneliness  becomes  unendurable,  for  it  is  associated  with  tho 


THE   KELATION   OF   MEN   IN   SOCIETY  89 

sense  of  imminent  danger.  The  mere  presence  of  other 
men  produces  a  feeling  of  security  and  satisfaction.  The 
various  forces  of  an  advanced  civilization  work  in  the  same 
manner,  strengthening  the  bonds  that  unite  one  group  and 
weakening  those  that  unite  another.  A  few  years  ago,  the 
workmen  employed  to  unload  vessels  at  the  London  Docks 
were  chosen  each  morning  from  among  scores  of  hungry 
men  who  fought  with  one  another  to  secure  the  chance  to 
work.  This  unsocializing  influence  was  entirely  reversed 
when  two  or  three  able  leaders  convinced  the  men  that 
their  ends  were  better  gained  by  union;  and  now  dock 
labor,  like  the  older  trades,  is  so  organized  that  a  common 
occupation  binds  the  workers  together. 

In  the  long  run,  the  necessities  of  man's  position  decide 
between  the  influences  that  strengthen  social  bonds  and 
those  that  tend  to  destroy  society.  Ordinarily,  man  must 
be  a  social  being  in  order  to  survive ;  for  progress,  social 
life  is  absolutely  necessary.  So  far  as  primitive  man  is 
concerned,  there  is  some  reason  for  thinking  that  he  was 
not  of  choice  a  gregarious  animal,  but  that  a  certain  low 
degree  of  social  life  was  generally  necessary  for  his  survival. 
The  process  of  natural  selection  clearly  results  in  the  de- 
velopment of  a  gregarious  instinct,  for  those  who  do  not 
learn  to  enjoy  the  presence  of  their  fellows  have  to  contend 
single-handed  with  hostile  forces,  both  physical  and  human. 
And  progress  always  presupposes  the  social  instinct ;  a  tribe 
makes  progress  by  reason  of  its  strength  and  its  quickness 
to  learn,  and  both  strength  and  quickness  to  learn  depend 
on  the  social  instinct  that  binds  a  tribe  together  and  keeps 
it  in  active  relation  with  other  tribes.  Progress  for  the 
individual  means  a  larger  share  in  the  developing  common 
life,  it  presupposes  the  social  man.  Genuine  progress  of 
society  demands  increasing  solidarity  in  the  component 
social  groups ;  bonds  of  feeling,  not  simply  of  function, 
must  unite  these  groups.  Cases  where  this  does  not  occur 
are  abnormal  if  not  uncommon,  and  such  groups  carry  in 
themselves  the  seeds  of  their  own  disruption. 


90  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

Sentiment  as  a  Social  Bond. — The  bond  of  sentiment 
that  unites  men  in  society  may  fairly  be  described  as  mutual 
delight  in  companionship  with  one  another.  Whatever  be 
true  of  primitive  man,  there  can  be  no  question  that  to-day 
man  is  a  social  being,  i.e.,  in  other  words,  that  in  whatever 
relation  men  find  themselves,  the  pleasures  of  companion- 
ship tend  to  make  that  relation  closer  and  more  enduring. 
The  mere  fact  of  contiguity  serves  as  such  a  starting-point 
for  the  bond  of  sentiment.  Persons  whose  business  brings 
them  together  cannot,  if  they  would,  keep  their  relation 
purely  on  the  business  plane.  Neighbors  in  a  large  city 
fail  to  become  acquainted  with  each  other  simply  because 
the  contiguity  is  physical  and  is  not  socially  real — they  may 
live  in  adjacent  apartments,  but  under  modern  conditions 
this  brings  them  no  nearer  together.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  men  are  brought  into  touch  with  each  other,  even  for 
the  brief  period  of  an  ocean  voyage,  those  who  do  not  form 
new  friendships  are  the  exception.  The  final  test  of  this 
principle  is  found  in  countries  where  marriage  is  arranged 
entirely  by  the  parents,  with  little  or  no  acquaintance 
beforehand  between  bride  and  bridegroom.  It  is  said  that 
in  modern  Athens,  for  example,  the  percentage  of  happy 
marriages  between  parties  unacquainted  with  each  other 
before  marriage,  is  quite  as  large  as  in  lands  where  the 
choice  of  a  bride  rests  entirely  with  the  future  husband. 
The  ultimate  explanation  is  found  in  the  fact  that  senti- 
ment tends  to  unite  persons  who  are  brought  into  close 
contact  with  each  other. 

The  presence  of  some  likeness  or  some  common  interest 
which  is  recognized  by  people  who  are  thrown  together  is, 
of  course,  a  large  additional  factor  in  developing  bonds  of 
sentiment  between  them.  When  people  from  the  same 
State  meet  in  a  distant  locality,  even  so  external  a  likeness 
and  unity  of  interest  at  once  tend  to  bind  them  together. 
And  when  a  group  of  men  share  with  each  other  any  of  the 
different  forms  of  social  activity  which  we  shall  examine 
later,  the  members  of  the  group  tend  to  develop  a  real 


THE   RELATION   OF   MEN   IN   SOCIETY  91 

common  life.  Reciprocal  pleasure  in  companionship  per- 
forms  a  most  important  function  in  welding  together 
classes  of  men  into  real  societies.  It  is  not  merely  nature's 
stamp  of  approval  on  the  utility  of  companionship  ;  it  be- 
comes an  additional  bond  uniting  men  in  society  more 
firmly,  and  assisting  in  the  gradual  assimilation  of  hetero- 
geneous factors. 

Nor  can  we  stop  here  in  our  discussion  of  sentiment  as  a 
social  bond,  for  it  is  the  direct  source  of  activities  which 
bring  men  into  relations  of  interdependence.  Pleasure  in 
companionship  involves  readiness  to  give  and  to  receive, 
though  the  different  elements  never  receive  quite  the  same 
emphasis  in  different  types  of  relationship.  It  involves  the 
readiness  to  give ;  to  give  one's  time  and  interest  in  the 
service  of  others,  to  sympathize  with  their  various  emo- 
tions, to  make  allowance  for  their  weaknesses,  to  recognize 
and  admire  what  is  excellent  in  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  involves  a  readiness  to  receive.  Enjoyment  of  service 
and  adulation  is  a  sentiment  which  plays  no  small  part  in 
the  social  and,  indeed,  in  the  political  world ;  and  in  the 
higher  types  of  friendship  enjoyment  of  the  service  that 
love  renders  is  as  truly  important  as  joy  in  serving.  In  all 
the  different  relations  of  society,  in  the  family  and  the 
state,  in  education  and  in  religion,  even  in  business,  the 
distinctly  social  character  of  man  to-day  is  a  dynamic  bond 
of  union.1 

2.  Bonds  of  Common  Function. — "  Social  cohesion  "  is 
a  second  phrase  sometimes  used  to  describe  the  union  of 
men  in  a  social  group.  A  phrase  so  convenient  often  serves 
instead  of  any  investigation  of  the  facts,  and  satisfies  those 
who  are  content  with  a  new  word  as  an  explanation  ;  but  it 
is  just  about  as  scientific  as  would  be  the  phrase  "  biologi- 
cal cohesion."  The  parts  of  an  animal  are  indeed  bound 
together — they  have  a  physical  relation  depending  on  pro- 
pinquity ;  but  the  whole  question  is  why  they  are  thus 

1  On  the  importance  of  sentiment  as  a  social  bond,  cf.  Novicow,  Les 
luttes  entre  societes  humaines,  livre  II.  chap.  vi. 


92  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

bound  together.  The  metaphor  from  physical  science  is 
peculiarly  inapt,  because  it  implies  that  the  component 
elements  are  uniform,  and  that  the  law  of  their  relation  is 
very  simple.  In  this  sense  it  might  be  fair  to  speak  of  the 
cohesion  of  a  flock  of  sheep  ;  but  so  far  as  organized  society 
is  concerned,  all  that  the  metaphor  suggests  beyond  the 
mere  fact  of  a  relation  is  false. 

The  Biological  Organ  has  a  Unity  of  Function. — Biol- 
ogy furnishes  an  analogy  that  is  richer  and  much  nearer 
the  truth.  The  question  as  to  the  bonds  which  unite  the 
molecules  in  an  animal's  lung  or  brain  may  receive  two 
answers.  Undoubtedly  the  union  can  be  stated  in  terms 
of  physical  and  chemical  forces.  Chemical  affinity,  physi- 
cal cohesion,  etc.,  determine  the  place  and  movement  of 
each  atom  of  matter.  It  is  possible  to  ask  the  reason  for 
the  particular  arrangement,  and  to  get  a  more  important 
if  not  a  truer  answer.  Biology  recognizes  that  the  charac- 
ter of  an  organ  is  determined  by  its  function,  its  parts  are 
arranged  as  they  are,  and  change  as  they  do,  because  the 
organ  performs  a  definite  function  in  relation  to  the  other 
parts  of  the  organism.  The  real  bond  that  unites  the  parts 
of  a  lung  is  the  fact  that  each  part  shares  in  the  function 
of  the  lung  and  contributes  to  the  performance  of  that 
function.  The  parts  form  a  whole  because  they  work  to- 
gether. All  that  chemistry  can  contribute  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  manner  of  the  process,  the  biologist  gladly 
welcomes  ;  the  fact  of  the  process,  and  of  the  unity  which 
it  implies,  he  knows  to  begin  with. 

A  Social  Group  has  a  Unity  of  Function. — The  unity 
of  a  society  also  is  functional,  and  not  simple  "cohesion." 
The  social  group  is  not  determined  by  any  single  factor, 
nor  does  an  enumeration  of  its  different  parts  tell  the 
whole  truth.  The  group  is  one  because  it  has  a  common 
life,  because  its  members  are  united  in  the  performance  of  a 
common  function.  Members  of  the  family  depend  on  each 
other,  and  together  they  serve  a  common  end  in  the  larger 
group.  Persons  of  the  same  rank  in  the  social  scale  per- 


THE   RELATION   OF   MEN   IN   SOCIETY  93 

form  much  the  same  functions  for  society,  so  that  they 
easily  develop  a  common  life  and  a  direct  interdependence. 
In  the  industrial  world,  or  in  the  intellectual  world,  groups 
are  determined  in  the  same  manner.  Men  hunt  together 
or  dig  together,  and  the  permanence  of  the  common  activ- 
ity is  the  measure  of  the  permanence  of  the  group.  Vol- 
untarily or  not,  men  of  the  same  period  unite  in  the  search 
for  truth,  and  the  intellectual  group  is  determined  by  the 
extent  of  the  common  intellectual  activity.  A  share  in  the 
same  activity,  the  performance  of  a  common  function,  in 
itself  unites  individuals  in  functional  groups.  Perform- 
ance of  different  functions  with  reference  to  a  common 
whole  tends  to  separate  one  social  aggregate  from  another ; 
yet  at  the  same  time  it  emphasizes  the  bonds  that  unite  each 
part  into  a  definite  group,  and  it  connects  the  groups  into 
a  compound  whole. 

Differentiation  of  Activities  and  of  Groups  in  Social 
Evolution. — The  study  of  social  evolution  sheds  much  light 
on  the  character  of  the  bonds  that  consist  in  a  common 
function.  In  the  development  of  society  new  needs  are 
constantly  being  developed  ;  as  they  arise  they  are  met  by 
new  forms  of  social  activity ;  and  the  social  "  organs " 
which  have  been  adjusted  to  one  set  of  activities,  must 
change  to  correspond  with  the  more  complex  activities.  In 
this  process  social  groups  are  gradually  made  more  definite 
and  more  stable,  as  the  function  in  which  their  members 
unite  is  defined.  A  primitive  group  with  no  sharp  line 
either  circumscribing  it  or  dividing  its  parts,  is  the  basis 
of  the  family  and  the  state.  A  confused  idea  of  blood- 
relationship  grows  clearer  and  more  definite  until  at  length 
it  assumes  the  form  best  adapted  to  secure  permanence. 
Separation  of  the  industrial  and  military  forms  of  activity 
in  the  state  causes  a  separation  into  industrial  and  military 
classes.  The  function  of  a  group,  at  first  so  vague,  is  grad- 
ually defined,  and  in  consequence  the  group  itself  is  more 
sharply  defined  from  other  groups.  In  a  word,  the  study 
of  social  evolution  makes  it  clear  that  a  definite  form  of 


94  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

social  activity  and  a  definite  group  of  men  engaged  in 
that  activity  arise  simultaneously ;  that  is  to  say,  the 
social  group  is  determined  from  within,  and  the  bond 
which  unites  its  members  is  their  share  in  the  particular 
activity. 

Social  Bonds  become  more  Definite,  Various,  Perma- 
nent.— The  differentiation  of  social  functions  and  social 
groups  results  in  making  the  bonds  that  unite  men  in  a 
common  activity  more  definite,  more  various,  and  more 
permanent.  In  the  primitive  "horde  "  no  clearly  defined 
bonds  united  the  members.  The  group  was  largely  deter- 
mined from  without,  and  the  only  internal  bond  was  due 
to  those  influences  which  are  usually  ascribed  to  heredity. 
The  beginnings  of  a  political  and  industrial  organization 
meant  more  definite  bonds  uniting  men  in  society,  because 
it  meant  more  definite  functions  in  the  performance  of 
which  men  were  associated.  The  industrial  and  the  social 
and  the  political  forms  of  activity  were  gradually  separated, 
until  each  individual  had  his  economic  position  in  society, 
his  social  position,  and  his  political  position.  In  each  form 
of  activity  he  was  united  with  a  class  of  associates,  and  these 
associates  were  not  quite  the  same  in  any  two  cases.  In  each 
new  form  of  activity  he  gained  new  powtr,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  he  became  more  dependent  on  society ;  power  and  de- 
pendence alike  are  signs  of  the  common  life  of  which  he  has 
come  to  be  a  part.  Each  new  form  of  activity  is  a  new  and 
stronger  bond  uniting  him  with  his  fellows.  To-day  the 
economic  forms  of  social  activity  are  so  complex  that  they 
almost  defy  analysis,  and  it  is  only  possible  to  describe  the 
most  important  varieties.  Finally  the  differentiation  of 
social  functions  and  social  groups  makes  social  ties  more 
permanent.  A  man  is  bound  to  his  neighbors  in  a  hundred 
ways  instead  of  one,  and  if  the  social  structure  is  weak  in 
one  spot,  strength  elsewhere  is  likely  to  prevent  its  over- 
throw. The  natural  sentiment  which  led  to  a  marriage 
may  disappear ;  but  respect  for  public  opinion,  or  the  legal 
difficulties  of  divorce,  or  the  difficulty  of  meeting  the  needs 


THE  RELATION   OF   MEN  IN   SOCIETY  95 

of  life  alone,  may  any  one  of  them  suffice  to  prevent  the 
breaking  up  of  the  family. 

Solidarity  of  the  Family  Increased. — The  further  re- 
sults of  social  evolution  have  affected  the  functional 
bonds,  and  the  groups  which  were  united  by  these  bonds, 
differently  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  the  social 
group.  In  contrast  with  other  social  groups  that  expand 
as  they  develop,  the  family  is  by  nature  a  closed  group, 
and  the  whole  process  of  evolution  tends  to  emphasize  this 
characteristic.  Wherever  the  family  has  been  expanded, 
it  has  lost  its  essential  character  and  has  failed  to  perform 
its  function  properly.  The  evolution  of  the  social  bonds 
is  none  the  less  evident  in  the  case  of  the  family,  and  in 
the  process  of  evolution  the  character  of  this  social  bond 
appears  very  clearly.  The  family  has  become  more  sharply 
defined  and  more  permanent  with  each  advance  of  culture  ; 
in  particular  it  has  been  solidified  as  the  forms  of  activity 
into  which  it  has  entered  have  become  more  various  and 
more  definite.  The  bond  once  easily  sundered,  became  far 
stronger  when  the  family  entered  as  a  definite  unit  into 
industrial  activity,  for  economic  solidarity  was  a  stronger 
bond  than  the  merely  domestic  or  social  union.  And  as 
the  members  of  the  family  share  the  same  intellectual  life, 
thus  forming  one  body  intellectually  ;  as  they  become  dis- 
tinctly one  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  and  in  their  relation  to 
the  state  ;  as  they  enter  together  into  new  and  higher 
forms  of  moral  and  religious  life,  the  solidarity  of  the 
family  is  indefinitely  increased.  A  common  share  in  new 
forms  of  life  means  that  new  bonds  unite  the  members  of 
a  group,  and  that  by  these  bonds  the  closed  group  is  solid- 
ified and  made  more  permanent. 

Expansive  Social  Groups  Increase  in  Extent. — The  re- 
sults of  evolution  on  social  groups,  and  the  bonds  that  unite 
them,  may  be  more  apparent,  though  certainly  not  more 
important,  in  the  case  of  expansive  groups.  Here  the  new 
complexity  has  full  opportunity  to  show  itself  in  uniting 
men  into  new  groups  as  they  perform  the  new  activities. 


90  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

As  the  life  of  a  given  set  of  men  grows  more  complex,  the 
inner  structure  of  the  group  shares  the  complexity  ;  wher- 
ever it  is  possible  the  new  complex  life  reaches  out  beyond 
a  given  group,  and  social  ties  connect  larger  and  larger 
numbers  in  a  society.  The  size  of  a  society  depends  ulti- 
mately on  the  extent  to  which  its  common  life  may  reach, 
and  on  the  permanence  which  the  common  life  is  adapt- 
ed to  produce.  Increasing  complexity  of  social  life  re- 
quires a  constantly  expanding  social  structure,  and  binds 
together  the  different  parts  of  this  structure  as  they  arise. 
A  complex  social  life  requires  an  increasingly  stable  social 
structure,  and  makes  the  structure  stable  by  the  great  varie- 
ty of  bonds  uniting  each  part  with  many  other  parts.  The 
most  apparent  result  of  the  larger  common  life  and  of  the 
new  bonds  by  which  it  unites  individuals,  is  the  rapid  in- 
crease in  the  extent  of  the  society  thus  formed. 

i.  Attractive  Forces,  based  in  Feeling. — The  word  as- 
sociation, which  is  ordinarily  used  to  express  the  relation 
of  men  in  society,  has  hardly  been  justified  by  the  discus- 
sion thus  far.  We  have  seen  that  man  is  or  becomes,  in 
some  measure,  a  social  creature,  and  that  he  learns  to  en- 
joy more  and  more  the  very  presence  of  companions.  This 
pleasure  is  often  independent  of  any  mutual  services, 
though  it  is  almost  sure  to  arise  in  connection  with  such 
services.  Man  is  not  wholly  unlike  the  gregarious  an- 
imals ;  society  is  bound  together  directly  by  bonds  of  feel- 
ing that  may  be  described  as  attractive  forces. 

In  regard  to  these  forces,  it  may  be  observed,  first,  that 
they  are  due  to  the  character  of  the  individuals  in  society, 
and  that  they  increase  or  decrease  as  these  individuals  be- 
come "  more  social "  or  "less  social."  Even  when  such 
abstraction  is  made  the  direct  end,  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
study  these  bonds  apart  from  the  men  they  hold  together, 
for  they  form  a  part  of  the  life  of  individuals.  And  sec- 
ondly these  bonds,  due  to  pleasure  in  companionship,  are 
not  primarily  physical  in  character,  but  rather  psychical. 


THE   RELATION   OF   MEN   IN   SOCIETY  97 

The  social  and  the  unsocial  man  cannot  be  immediately 
distinguished  by  any  physical  difference,  and  there  is  little 
reason  to  believe  that  these  traits  are  transmitted  from 
father  to  son  by  heredity.  Men  enjoy  the  society  of  others 
when  they  have  been  trained  to  enjoy  it ;  social  life  then 
is  a  product  of  culture.  Pleasure  in  society  is  the  result 
of  men's  relation  to  a  social  and  a  moral  environment, 
not  of  their  relation  to  the  physical  environment.  Delight 
in  companionship  is  a  psychical  fact ;  it  is  a  function  of 
the  individual's  psychical  life.  The  true  name  for  the 
union  of  men  in  society  is  association. 

2.  Functional  Bonds,  due  to  Common  Activity. — A 
biological  metaphor  has  proved  useful  in  describing  the 
general  character  of  a  social  group.  Society  is  so  far 
an  organism  that  its  unity  is  determined  by  its  life, 
and  the  unity  of  each  part  is  determined  by  its  func- 
tion in  the  life  of  the  whole.  The  social  group  is  one 
because  it  acts  together ;  the  true  unity  of  society  is 
functional. 

Here,  again,  it  is  clear  that  the  change  from  an  unsocial 
to  a  social  state  is  simply  a  change  in  the  individuals  form- 
ing the  new  group.  No  new  power  has  appeared  above 
and  outside  these  men  to  make  them  work  together  and  to 
restrain  their  selfish  tendencies.  They  have  learned  to 
depend  on  each  other;  as  a  body  they  can  accomplish  what 
is  impossible  for  any  one  to  accomplish  alone.  The  indi- 
vidual is  so  changed  that  he  can  only  live  in  a  complex 
group.  The  social  bonds,  due  to  a  common  activity,  are 
functions  of  the  individual  life.  Secondly,  it  may  be  said 
of  the  bonds  due  to  a  share  in  the  social  activity,  as  of  the 
bonds  due  to  pleasure  in  the  presence  of  others,  that  they 
are  primarily  psychical  in  their  character.  In  fact,  as 
man  becomes  a  social  being,  it  is  not  so  much  his  body 
that  is  changed,  as  it  is  the  world  in  which  he  lives.  This 
was  an  animal's  world  in  which  many  things  were  to  be 
feared,  and  a  few  were  to  be  utilized  to  satisfy  appetite. 
It  becomes  a  human  world,  in  which  the  important  facts 


98  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

are  not  things,  but  men,  and  life  is  made  up  of  man's  re- 
lations to  his  fellows.  Even  the  very  things  in  nature  are 
changing,  as  men  gain  a  larger  scientific  horizon,  and  as 
they  find  new  means  of  utilizing  the  gifts  of  nature.  The 
world  in  which  a  man  lives  is  the  psychical  world  in  which 
he  has  been  brought  up  ;  this  world  of  experience  is  a 
social  fact,  developed  in  society,  and  practically  the  same 
for  the  same  social  group.  The  development  of  social  life 
is  a  psychical  process  ;  man,  in  company  with  his  fellows, 
is  developing  a  faculty  of  reason. 

Meaning  of  "  Association." — The  word  association 
naturally  refers  to  the  psychical  relation  of  well-marked 
psychical  units.  The  scientific  study  of  society  does  not 
change  this  idea,  but  simply  develops  it.  A  man's  delight 
in  the  presence  of  other  men  is  no  mere  animal  gregari- 
ousness  ;  it  is  the  delight  of  mind  in  contact  with  mind. 
Individuals  choose  this  social  life  because  it  alone  affords 
pleasure  that  can  be  called  human.  The  more  important 
bonds  due  to  a  share  in  the  common  activity  are  never 
fully  described  by  any  terms  from  biology.  This  common 
activity  means  the  development  and  activity  of  reason  ;  its 
character  is  essentially  psychical.  Moreover,  its  develop- 
ment is  the  development  of  individuals,  and  the  common 
activity  is  the  conscious  effort  of  men  to  realize  ends  which 
they  consciously  propose  to  themselves. 

Conditions  favoring  Association. — The  preceding  chap- 
ter discussed  the  physical  basis  of  social  life,  and  it  re- 
mains to  suggest  the  relation  between  thk  physical  basis 
and  the  psychical  life  which  is  developed  from  it.  This 
is  simply  a  question  as  to  the  conditions  favoring  the 
development  of  association.  Complex  society  shows  two 
sets  of  influences  at  work,  influences  tending  directly  to 
aggregation  and  assimilation,  and  influences  tending  to 
separate  and  differentiate  social  elements.  Each  of  these 
sets  of  influences  in  its  own  way  favors  the  growth  of  as- 
sociation. This  is  clear  enough  in  the  case  of  the  assimi- 
lating influences ;  men  in  the  same  locality  come  to  share 


THE   RELATION   OF  MEN   IN   SOCIETY  99 

the  same  culture,  society  tends  to  become  one,  and  its 
members  enter  into  more  and  more  intimate  relations. 
The  same  effect,  only  within  a  more  limited  area,  is  pro- 
duced by  differentiating  influences.  The  relation  between 
employer  and  employed  involves  certain  hostile  elements 
which  have  been  greatly  emphasized  in  the  present  cen- 
tury. The  direct  effect  of  this  is  to  bring  the  members 
of  each  class  into  closer  relation  with  other  members  of 
the  same  class.  The  attitude  of  common  hostility  on  the 
part  of  a  class  not  only  adds  a  new  bond  of  considerable 
power,  but  it  has  a  far  more  important  function  in  devel- 
oping more  essential  bonds  of  union  which  have  remained 
unrealized  or  even  unrecognized.  Every  form  of  social 
struggle,  from  war  between  nations  to  economic  compe- 
tition, religious  strife,  or  intellectual  ambition,  has  its 
effect  in  welding  a  larger  or  smaller  class  into  closer 
association. 

Influence  of  Locality  on  Association.— The  distinctly 
physical  facts  of  race  and  locality  exercise  both  positive 
and  negative  influences  on  the  development  of  association. 
In  the  first  place,  locality  tends  to  assimilate  races  and 
types  of  culture.  Language  is  a  good  example  of  this. 
Two  languages  may  be  spoken  in  the  same  locality  for 
a  limited  period,  but,  sooner  or  later,  one  drives  out  the 
other,  or  a  new  language  is  formed,  uniting  both  constitu- 
ents. Where  two  religions  have  been  thrown  together,  or 
two  sets  of  moral  habits,  the  result  has  been  the  same  :  one 
has  driven  out  the  other  after  being  more  or  less  modified 
by  it.  Life  in  the  same  locality  means  the  same  schools 
for  the  children,  the  same  laws  and  government  for  the 
parents.  Even  climatic  influences  tend  to  develop  the 
same  habits.  Where  two  races  live  together,  intermarriage 
is  inevitable,  and  a  new  race  is  the  product  of  the  two  com- 
ponents. The  differentiating  influences  of  locality  are 
mainly  due  to  differences  of  climate.  While  the  imme- 
diate effect  of  climate  in  uniting  one  set  of  people  as  over 
against  another  set  is  inconsiderable,  some  of  the  antago- 


100  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

nism  between  the  temperaments  of  different  peoples  may 
be  traced  to  this  source. 

Influence  of  Race  on  Association. — Blood-relationship, 
real  or  imagined,  lies  at  the  very  basis  of  union  in  society. 
Economic  relations,  political  unity,  even  language  itself, 
are  developed  in  the  group  which  regards  itself  as  a  race  ; 
some  religions  have  become  universal,  but  each  religion  is  in 
origin  the  product  of  a  race.  Receiving  a  similar  physical 
nature  from  common  ancestors,  and  sharing  the  psychical 
life  which  is  their  most  valuable  inheritance,  members  of 
the  same  race  have  by  nature  the  strongest  bonds  of  union, 
and  union  of  any  sort  tends  to  develop  closer  psychical  re- 
lationship. Only  at  certain  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
world  have  a  race  and  a  society  become  so  far  identical, 
that  strangers  who  have  come  to  share  the  culture  of  the 
society  are  at  length  regarded  as  members  of  the  race.  In 
a  word,  the  physical  group  underlies  the  psychical  group  ; 
identity  of  race  favors  association. 

Social  and  Psychical  Factors  favoring  Association. — 
The  physical  conditions  favoring  association,  viz.,  race  and 
locality,  are  by  far  the  most  important ;  but  as  society  de- 
velops, there  are  certain  social  and  intellectual  conditions 
which  have  such  an  important  influence  on  association, 
that  they  cannot  be  overlooked. 

These  are  roughly  classified  in  the  following  table : 


Social  factors  :  Rank,  e.g.  Rulers  and  ruled ;  slaves. 

Nobility,  bourgeoisie,  peasants. 
Vocation,   e.g.     Artisans,    carpenters,    metal- 
workers. 

Merchants,  wholesale,  retail. 
Intellectual  pursuits,  etc. 

Psychical  factors  :    Thought  and  language. 
Beliefs  and  science. 
Temperament,  morals,  art. 

Religion. 


THE   RELATION   OF   MEN   IN   SOCIETY  101 

The  most  important  bonds  uniting  men  are  the  bonds  of 
a  common  function,  of  a  share  in  some  common  activity. 
So  it  needs  no  proof  that  identity  of  vocation,  to  whatever 
this  may  be  due,  is  a  very  important  influence  favoring  as- 
sociation. Men  are  led  to  choose  their  vocation  quite  gen- 
erally by  some  particular  taste  or  habit  of  mind,  so  that 
it  is  common  to  find  a  certain  identity  of  temperament 
among  those  pursuing  the  same  calling.  :  Tlie;  same  wor-k,: 
and  the  pursuit  of  work  along  with  companions,  also,  tepdj 
to  produce  a  similar  habit  of  mind  within  a  given  group. 
But  this  bond,  due  to  similarity,  is  only  half  the  story. 
Those  in  the  same  trade  are  united  in  the  performance  of 
the  same  function  for  society.  The  work  of  carpenters 
may  leave  them  a  considerable  degree  of  independence, 
while  men  must  unite  in  large  factories  to  produce  guns  or 
carriages  successfully.  And  yet,  however  great  their  ap- 
parent independence,  each  class  of  workers  is  directly 
united  in  the  performance  of  its  common  function  for 
society. 

Nor  is  it  difficult  to  see  that  those  belonging  to  the 
same  rank  in  society  are  naturally  brought  into  association, 
whatever  may  be  the  principle  by  which  rank  is  deter- 
mined. Wherever  society  is  somewhat  stable,  members  of 
the  same  rank  in  society  have  received  from  their  parents 
a  physical  nature  peculiar  to  the  class.  Then  they  are 
trained  in  the  same  habits  of  thought  and  action.  Quite 
generally  they  have  access  only  to  particular  callings,  and 
indeed  they  have  tastes  suited  only  to  these  callings.  Be- 
sides these  conditions  strongly  favoring  association,  it  is 
often  possible  to  point  out  some  general  function  for  the 
service  of  society,  in  which  members  of  the  same  rank  are 
directly  united. 

We  have  seen  already  that  those  who  are  thrown  together, 
naturally  tend  to  have  the  same  language,  the  same  range 
of  thoughts,  the  same  scientific  view  of  the  world,  the  same 
aesthetic,  moral,  and  religious  needs.  Here  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  point  out  the  fact  that  the  converse  of  this  is 


102  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

equally  true.  Identity  of  language,  similarity  of  thoughts, 
habits,  and  needs,  are  conditions  strongly  favoring  the  de- 
velopment of  association.  Such  identity  and  similarity  are 
not  only  products  of  association  ;  they  are  the  most  impor- 
tant factors  in  determining  the  farther  development  of 
association. 


v/ 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  SOCIAL  MIND 

The  Solidarity  of  a  Society  or  Social  Group— The  Psychical  Life  of  the 
Social  Group.  1.  Language  and  Thought  common  to  the  Members 
of  a  Social  Group;  Beliefs,  Practical  Knowledge,  Methods  of  In- 
vestigation and  of  Proof,  common  to  the  Social  Group.  2.  Hab- 
its and  Virtues  peculiar  to  each  Social  Group ;  Judgment  of  ac- 
tion by  Conscience  a  Social  Fact;  Ends  of  Action  and  Ideals 
common  to  the  Group.  3.  Types  of  Feeling  mark  the  Social 
Group.  4.  Self-consciousness  of  the  Social  Group,  of  the  Voli- 
tional Group. 

The  Unity  of  the  Social  Mind  and  of  the  Individual  Mind—"  Social 
Mind"  a  Concrete  Phrase — Relation  of  the  Social  Mind  and  Indi- 
vidual Minds — The  Social  Mind  Exists  in  and  through  the  Indi- 
vidual Minds  Composing  It — The  Social  Mind  the  Product  of  As- 
sociation. 

(Note  on  the  Science  of  Society  and  the  Sciences  of  Man — Sociology 
and  History,  especially  the  History  of  Civilization — Sociology 
and  the  Genesis  of  Psychical  Processes — Attention,  Comparison, 
Generalization,  etc.,  from  the  Standpoint  of  Sociology — Sociology 
and  Logic  and  Ethics.) 

"The  laws  according  to  which  the  psychical 
activity  of  the  individual  is  awakened  and  de- 
veloped, may  be  called  psychology.  There  must 
be  similar  laws  also  for  the  whole  nation.  The 
nation,  as  well  as  the  individual  man,  is  one 
being.  "-HUMBOLDT,  Ges.  Werke,  IV.  427. 

The  Solidarity  of  a  Society  or  Social  Group. — The 

first  aim  of  sociology  is  to  understand  the  character  of  the 
object  with  which  it  has  to  deal  —  the  society  or  social 
group.  In  the  preceding  chapters  it  has  been  shown  that 
this  group  maybe  studied  as  a  contract,  or  as  an  organism  ; 
that  its  character  is,  in  a  measure,  determined  by  physical 
causes,  but  that,  in  its  essential  nature,  it  is  truly  an  as- 

103 


104  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

sociation  of  persons  whose  feelings  and  activities  bring 
them  together  in  the  common  social  structure.  A  social 
group  is  made  one  by  the  pleasure  its  members  find  in  each 
other's  companionship,  and  by  the  necessity  of  union  in 
order  that  the  group  may  perform  its  proper  function. 
The  solidarity  which  is  primarily  due  to  those  causes  and 
which  is  constantly  reinforced  by  the  same  causes,  gains  a 
much  wider  range  and  takes  a  deeper  hold  than  was  indi- 
cated in  the  discussion  of  the  principles  of  association. 
The  proof  then  offered  that  the  sources  of  social  unity  are 
psychical  forces,  was  somewhat  negative  in  character.  It 
remains  to  be  shown  that  the  solidarity  of  a  society  em- 
braces all  phases  of  the  psychical  life  that  it  develops ; 
that  the  social  life  of  man  is,  in  truth,  the  unfolding  of 
reason ;  that  the  unity  of  the  social  group  is  the  unity  of 
a  social  mind. 

The  Psychical  Life  of  the  Social  Group. — In  any  highly 
developed  organism  it  is  possible  to  study  the  life  of  the 
whole  in  its  effect  on  the  separate  elements  of  which  it  is 
composed.  In  the  case  of  society  the  temptation  to  adopt 
this  course  has  proved  almost  irresistible.  The  character- 
istics of  the  new  life  developed  in  the  group,  and  the  re- 
sults gradually  produced  by  this  common  life,  are  deposited 
in  the  individual  mind  ;  the  leaders  of  thought  and  activity 
are,  of  necessity,  individuals ;  the  highest  and  most  strik- 
ing product  of  society  is  the  personality  which  man  feels 
to  be  himself.  It  is  no  wonder  that  logic  and  ethics,  his- 
tory and  economics,  are  studied  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  individual,  while  the  social  character  of  the  truth  thus 
studied  is  only  vaguely  indicated  by  an  occasional  reference 
to  environment.  Yet  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  all  the 
distinctive  characteristics  of  man  as  man  are  social  prod- 
ucts, both  in  their  origin  and  in  their  form. 

i.  Language  and  Thought  common  to  the  Members  of 
a  Social  Group. — In  the  first  place,  intellectual  posses- 
sions and  capacity  and  activities  belong  to  the  group  as  a 
whole.  For  instance,  language  is  never  the  invention  of 


THE   SOCIAL   MIND  105 

a  single  man,  nor  can  any  man  claim  it  as  a  private  pos- 
session. This  is  plain  enough  in  the  case  of  different  peo- 
ples, and  attention  is  frequently  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
popular  dialect  of  a  district  is  the  peculiar  property  of  that 
district ;  but  we  may  go  further  and  say  that  each  clearly 
marked  social  class,  each  trade  group,  and  even  each  fam- 
ily, has  its  own  language.  So  the  range  of  thoughts  pos- 
sessed and  used  by  any  group  is  limited,  and  characterizes 
one  group  in  distinction  from  another.  The  teacher  im- 
presses his  mind  on  the  school,  the  father  on  the  family, 
and  the  family  or  school  becomes  an  intellectual  group  by 
itself.  In  religious  matters,  the  range  of  thought  in  the 
denomination  and  in  the  individual  church  is  limited.  The 
words  "  soul,"  "revelation,"  "divine  justice,"  have  very 
different  meanings  for  different  bodies  of  religious  think- 
ers, but  within  a  given  church  the  meaning  of  each  is  prac- 
tically the  same.  In  a  word,  these  ideas  are  the  property 
of  a  social  group.  Only  members  of  the  same  group  can 
really  understand  each  other.  The  same  truth  holds  good 
of  different  ages.  The  philosophical,  or  scientific,  or  re- 
ligious ideas  of  one  age  differ  essentially  from  those  of 
another ;  the  thoughts  of  any  age  are  not  directly  and 
completely  intelligible  to  an  earlier  or  a  later  age. 

Common  Beliefs. — The  primary  beliefs  which  are  gen- 
erally accepted,  and  from  which  the  thinker  must  start, 
are,  in  like  manner,  the  property  of  the  group.  Philosoph- 
ical scepticism  appears  in  certain  ages,  and  affects  par- 
ticular classes.  The  belief  of  the  peasant  class  in  Europe 
as  to  matters  physical  and  spiritual,  mundane  and  heavenly, 
may  be  formulated  without  special  difficulty ;  and  it  differs 
no  less  from  the  belief  of  the  same  class  in  some  other  type 
of  civilization,  than  from  the  belief  of  the  educated  class  in 
Europe.  Changes  in  these  beliefs  sweep  over  a  whole  country 
at  times,  as  in  the  case  of  the  appearance  and  disappear- 
ance of  witchcraft  in  New  England.  Even  in  the  mind 
of  a  trained  thinker  the  evidence  in  favor  of  a  given  prop- 
osition rarely  has  the  same  weight  as  the  statement  that 


106  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

it  is  accepted  by  a  class  of  minds  which  commands  his 
respect. 

Common  Practical  Knowledge.— The  common  posses- 
sions of  a  group  and  of  an  age  include  in  particular  the 
practical  knowledge,  the  tools,  and  the  methods  of  attain- 
ing the  ends  desired.  Students  of  primitive  society  speak 
of  a  stone  age  and  a  bronze  age ;  more  limited  periods  are 
distinguished  by  the  special  forms  of  utensils,  their  decora- 
tion, and  the  skill  shown  in  their  manufacture.  As  civil- 
ization advances,  utensils  vary  more  rapidly  from  age  to 
age,  and  more  widely  in  different  groups  in  the  same  age. 
Weapons,  tools,  and  utensils  are  the  property  of  the  social 
group,  and  no  individual  possession.  So  the  methods  of 
agriculture  and  of  hunting,  of  preparing  food  and  partak- 
ing of  it,  of  preparing  and  wearing  clothing,  are  indeed 
followed  by  the  individual,  but  they  are  the  possessions  of 
the  age  and  the  social  group  in  which  he  finds  himself. 

Common  Methods  of  Investigation  and  of  Proof.— 
Finally,  intellectual  activity  may  be  predicated  of  the  group 
with  quite  as  much  truth  as  of  the  individual.  Each  age 
and  each  people — one  might  even  say  each  class — has  its 
own  way  of  going  at  a  problem  that  demands  solution. 
There  are  a  priori  methods  and  empirical  methods ;  one 
age  demands  metaphysical  proof ;  to-day  we  take  pride  in 
studying  everything  "  inductively  "  ;  one  group  uses  con- 
crete symbols,  and  another  abstract  ideas,  as  its  instru- 
ments of  investigation.  These  methods  and  the  activity 
which  finds  expression  through  them,  are  characteristic  of 
social  groups.  Even  the  standard  of  truth  varies  witli  the 
social  group.  Many  ages  and  peoples  have  regarded  the 
miracle  as  the  best  possible  proof  of  things  supernatural ; 
to-day  some  classes  find  in  the  account  of  miracles  a  stum- 
bling-block to  their  faith.  The  proof  of  the  metaphysical 
system  often  is  only  its  own  perfectness  and  beauty,  but 
such  systems  have  not  lacked  for  followers.  Tradition  has 
been  another  standard  of  truth,  physical  authority  yet 
another.  None  of  these  various  standards  of  truth  have 


THE  SOCIAL   MIND  107 

belonged  to  individuals  as  such ;  in  fact  it  is  by  the  very 
nature  of  things  impossible  that  the  test  of  what  truth  is, 
should  belong  to  an  individual.  A  proposition  is  said  to  be 
true  when  it  commands  assent,  when  it  can  be  " proved"  ; 
and  these  words  "  assent "  and  "proof"  mean  assent  by  a 
group  of  men  and  proof  that  satisfies  a  group  of  men. 

2.  Habits  and  Virtues  Common  to  each  Social  Group. — 
Secondly,  it  is  reasonable  to  assert  that  the  social  group 
has  volitional  characteristics,  such  as  are  commonly  re- 
garded as  distinctive  of  the  individual.  Habits  are  the 
possession  of  an  age  and  a  class  quite  as  truly  as  of  a  par- 
ticular man.  For  instance,  each  social  class  in  a  given 
nation,  at  a  given  time,  has  common  habits  as  to  its  food. 
The  bill  of  fare  does  not  vary  much  from  family  to  family; 
sauerkraut,  beef,  Indian  corn,  stand  for  particular  peoples 
in  the  mind  of  every  reader.  The  table  furnishings,  num- 
ber and  time  of  meals,  table  manners,  change  as  one  turns 
from  class  to  class,  rather  than  from  family  to  family. 
Habits  of  family  organization,  of  marriage  and  divorce, 
mark  one  country  and  one  age.  Habits  of  social  inter- 
course, such  as  the  time  and  manner  of  calls,  the  character 
of  social  gatherings,  the  mode  of  entertainment  and  topics 
of  conversation  at  such  gatherings,  the  extent  and  char- 
acter of  the  groups  that  have  social  intercourse  with  each 
other :  all  these  are  determined  by  the  habits  of  the  class 
and  age  in  question.  In  particular,  habits  of  virtue  are 
the  property  of  the  group.  It  is  part  of  the  history  of  ethics, 
as  yet  largely  unwritten,  to  show  that  the  virtues  men 
prize  and  cultivate  have  varied  from  age  to  age,  in  different 
nations,  and  even  in  different  families.  It  is  an  evident  fact 
that  truth-telling,  generosity,  patience,  pertinacity,  justice, 
receive  very  different  emphasis  in  different  families ;  the 
habits  of  virtue  vary  in  these  families,  and  the  persons  who 
go  out  from  them  ordinarily  carry  with  them  the  virtues  of 
the  group  in  which  their  character  has  been  formed.  The 
history  of  virtues,  like  the  history  of  other  habits,  can  only 
be  written  from  the  standpoint  of  the  group,  never  from 


108  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

the  standpoint  of  the  individual ;  this  fact  alone  justifies 
the  statement  that  habits  belong  to  the  group. 

Judgment  of  Action  by  Conscience  a  Social  Fact. — 
And  not  merely  the  history  of  virtues,  but  the  judgment 
of  action  as  well,  conscience  itself,  is  a  social  fact.  What- 
ever the  origin  of  conscience,  it  is  to-day  the  application  of 
the  group's  standard  to  the  action  of  the  members  of  the 
group.  "  By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin  "  is  nothing 
but  a  statement  of  the  fact  that  the  sanction  of  the  law 
of  the  state,  or  of  the  precept  of  the  church,  or  of  public 
opinion,  is  the  power  that  wakens  conscience.  The  child's 
conscience  is  just  as  truly  a  family  product  as  his  power  to 
use  language.  Whole  races  seem  to  us  to  lack  conscience, 
either  because  we  cannot  understand  the  content  of  right 
and  wrong  which  is  enforced,  or  oftentimes  because  the 
common  life  and  culture  of  the  group  are  so  little  developed 
that  the  feeble  germ  of  a  future  conscience  cannot  as  yet 
be  detected.1  The  religious  man  hears  God's  voice  in  the 
commands  of  duty  as  he  hears  it  in  the  revelation  of  truth, 
but  both  the  command  or  revelation  and  the  power  to 
apprehend  them  come  through  his  share  in  social  life. 

Common  Ends  of  Action  and  Ideals. — The  earliest 
ethical  reflection  has  generally  taken  the  form  of  a  search 
for  the  highest  good  ;  and  this  is  natural,  for  a  man's  first 
conscious  effort  to  regulate  his  own  life  is  the  effort  to 
attain  some  definite  end.  The  immediate  concrete  end  of 
action  is  evidently  a  social  fact.  No  boy  cultivates  skill 
in  playing  marbles  when  his  companions  disdain  it ;  a  man 
seeks  to  run  his  loom  well,  or  tell  a  story  well,  because 
these  accomplishments  are  prized  by  the  group  of  which 
he  is  a  member.  And  the  great  ends  which  are  gradually 
being  worked  out  in  society,  often  unconsciously  so  far  as 

1  Many  efforts  of  a  rather  absurd  character  have  been  made  to  deduce 
conscience  from  other  factors  of  the  individual's  psychical  life ;  the  real 
reason  for  their  failure  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  conscience  is  not 
developed  by  the  interaction  of  a  group  of  feelings  and  ideas,  be  they 
ever  so  altruistic,  but  rather  by  the  interaction  of  gradually  developing 
personalities. 


THE   SOCIAL   MIND  109 

the  members  of  society  are  concerned,  can  never  be  the 
property  of  a  single  person.  It  is  true  that  they  find  their 
highest  realization  in  the  persons  of  individuals,  but  only 
because  such  individuals  are  the  genuine  product  of  society. 
Spencer  distinguishes  military  societies  and  industrial  so- 
cieties ;  others  have  added  to  this  list  an  ethical  type,  now 
supposed  to  be  in  process  of  realization.  In  each  case  the 
type  is  a  social  product.  To  take  the  church  as  a  particu- 
lar example,  each  denomination  to-day  has  a  special  type 
of  religious  experience  which  it  seeks  to  cultivate  among 
its  members,  and  when  one's  view  is  extended  beyond  the 
present  century,  these  types  vary  even  more  widely.  Mem- 
bers of  a  church  have  a  similar  religious  life,  because  that 
type  is  the  social  product  and  the  social  possession  of  their 
church. 

3.  Types  of  Feeling  mark  the  Social  Group. — Thirdly, 
the  group  may  truly  be  said  to  have  its  own  emotional 
life.  Nothing  develops  the  sense  of  individuality  so  dis- 
tinctly as  the  feeling  of  joy  or  sorrow,  of  satisfaction,  or  of 
eager  desire,  which  man  calls  most  peculiarly  his  own  ;  yet 
even  these  are  not  his  individual  possession.  He  develops 
the  capacity  for  them  by  his  intercourse  with  his  fellows  ; 
the  immediate  occasion  of  any  particular  feeling  is  quite  gen- 
erally found  in  some  particular  relation  to  the  human  world 
of  which  he  is  a  part ;  and,  whatever  its  occasion,  each  new 
feeling  has  a  tendency  to  communicate  itself  to  all  that 
come  in  contact  with  it.  The  communication  of  feeling, 
of  course,  takes  place  most  readily  when  a  body  of  persons 
is  subject  to  the  same  exciting  cause  of  feeling.  Empty 
benches  do  not  inspire  an  orator,  and  what  is  even  more 
true,  they  do  not  inspire  the  scattered  members  of  the 
audience.  The  revivalist  preacher  gets  his  audience  to 
sing  together,  and  the  wave  of  common  feeling  will  respond 
to  appeals  of  another  character.  Enthusiasm  is  a  social 
product,  just  as  coals  burn  together.  Common  types  of 
feeling  have  come  to  mark  each  age  and  each  nation. 
There  was  an  age  of  chivalry,  an  age  called  the  New  Birth, 


110  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

the  Renaissance,  and  there  has  been  many  an  age  marked 
by  doubt  and  despair.  A  nation,  too,  may  be  described  by 
its  tone  of  feeling — the  French  people  are  called  witty,  gay, 
and  careless,  having  much  spirit,  and  little  power  of  perse- 
verance ;  North  Germany  is  said  to  be  marked  by  a  melan- 
choly dreaminess,  and  by  great  energy  and  devotion  when 
the  people  are  once  roused.  Such  characterizations  are 
likely  to  contain  quite  as  much  falsehood  as  truth  ;  yet  the 
fact  is  recognized  by  every  traveller,  that  the  types  of  feel- 
ing in  the  peoples  among  whom  he  goes  are  different 
enough  from  what  he  has  been  accustomed  to  at  home. 

4.  Self-consciousness  of  the  Social  Group — The  final 
characteristic  of  the  individual's  mental  life  is  his  self- 
consciousness  ;  he  learns  to  feel  the  unity  of  himself,  as  over 
against  the  unity  of  his  world.  In  some  cases,  the  social 
group  is  wholly  without  this  recognition  of  a  common  men- 
tal life.  Those  who  speak  the  same  language  are  hardly  likely 
to  perceive  that  they  share  a  mental  life  in  common ;  the 
consciousness  of  it  only  arises  when  a  man  meets  those  with 
whom  he  can  converse  freely,  after  passing  some  time  in 
lands  where  only  a  strange  language  is  heard.  The  differ- 
ent industrial  classes  and  social  classes  in  a  city  only  recog- 
nize the  common  life  of  the  class,  when  this  life  is  empha- 
sized by  contrast  with  some  other  type,  or  by  conflict  of 
.  class  with  class.  The  recognition  of  a  common  life  and  of 
common  ends  in  life  is  the  true  basis  of  the  unity  of  a 
social  group ;  until  this  takes  place,  the  unity  is  a  possi- 
bility to  be  realized,  the  common  life  is  only  incipient. 
Sometimes  physical  separateness  suggests  the  fact  that  a 
group  has  a  unity  of  its  own.  Children  feel  that  the  family 
has  a  common  life,  just  because  the  life  of  the  home  is  sep- 
arated at  so  many  points  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Or  pleasure  in  a  certain  set  of  companions  may  emphasize 
the  unity  of  that  particular  set ;  as  when  a  school  develops 
a  common  life  that  is  not  limited  to  the  intellectual  side. 
Frequently  pressure  from  outside  throws  men  together, 
and  makes  them  feel  that  their  only  interests  are  such  as 


THE  SOCIAL  MIND  111 

are  common  to  the  whole  class.  The  efforts  of  laborers  to 
secure  what  they  regard  as  their  rights,  unite  them  by  firm 
bonds  into  a  "  union,"  and  favor  the  belief  that  the  indi- 
vidual has  no  interest  apart  from  the  class.  Thus  a  some- 
what exaggerated  self-consciousness  is  developed  under 
pressure.  Hostile  relations  to  other  groups  of  men  have 
been  no  small  factor  in  the  production  even  of  distinct 
"races."1  Men  may  be  born  alike,  but  ordinarily  they 
must  be  taught  this  likeness  before  they  recognize  it ;  and 
pressure  from  outside  is  necessary  to  produce  a  compact 
union.  Finally,  it  may  be  said  that  every  society  formed 
with  the  purpose  of  encouraging  and  developing  some  form 
of  common  life,  presupposes  recognition  of  a  common  life 
already  existing.  A  church  is  formed  by  persons  who  have 
recognized  that  they  already  share  a  common  religious  life  ; 
the  friends  of  "  law  and  order  "  form  a  society  because  such 
a  union  aids  them  to  act  together,  but  doubtless  they  have 
long  been  conscious  that  they  shared  with  each  other  com- 
mon thoughts,  feelings,  and  purposes. 

The  recognition  that  the  group  is  by  nature  a  unity  is 
more  distinct,  however,  when  some  element  of  purpose 
underlies  the  union.  When  a  society  is  definitely  formed 
to  carry  out  a  definite  purpose,  its  members  are  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  their  common  life  is  emphasized 
as  the  basis  of  this  separateness,  and  this  is  done  by  their 
choice.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  consciousness  of  a 
common  life,  a  common  self,  sometimes  becomes  quite  as 
vivid  as  the  individual's  self-consciousness.  The  industrial 
corporation  develops  the  common  life  and  the  consciousness 
of  it  along  narrow  lines ;  the  family,  at  the  opposite  ex- 
treme, develops  a  common  life  along  the  whole  range  of 
human  interests,  and  the  self-consciousness  of  such  a  group 
may  easily  eclipse  the  individual  self-consciousness  of  hus- 


1  The  effect  of  war  in  uniting  the  different  factors  of  an  incipient 
nation  has  been  often  remarked  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  in  the 
Revolution  of  1776,  and  in  the  case  of  Germany  during  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War. 


112  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

band  or  wife.  Every  great  crusade  against  ignorance,  cor- 
ruption, or  evil  of  any  form,  every  earnest  effort  to  realize 
high  ideals  in  the  world,  demands  union  among  those  who 
would  carry  it  forward ;  the  voluntary  group  thus  formed 
cannot  fail  to  have  a  vivid  consciousness  of  its  common  life. 

The  Unity  of  the  Social  Mind  and  of  the  Individual 
Mind. — The  question  as  to  the  unity  of  the  social  mind 
becomes  clearer  when  the  nature  of  the  unity  of  the  indi- 
vidual mind  is  considered.  The  mind  of  the  individual  is, 
indeed,  the  function  of  a  particular  physical  structure  ;  but 
its  true  unity  is  rather  psychical  than  physical.  The  mind 
is  a  unity  because  all  thoughts,  feelings,  acts,  are  referred 
to  a  common  subject  in  self-consciousness  ;  the  conscious- 
ness of  this  subject  is  gradually  developed,  thoughts  and 
feelings  are  gradually  organized,  voluntary  acts  are  brought 
more  under  the  influence  of  a  definite  ideal,  until  at  length 
the  unity  of  a  person  stands  out  clearly  in  all  the  com- 
plexity of  mental  life.  It  may,  of  course,  be  possible  to 
find  a  sort  of  physical  unity  of  the  social  group  ;  the  ques- 
tion is  unimportant,  for  the  real  unity  of  mind  is  not  a 
physical  but  a  psychical  matter.  Such  a  psychical  unity 
is  developed  in  the  social  group,  though  the  development 
is  gradual,  and  takes  place  in  different  degrees.  Wherever 
a  group  is  subject  to  influences  developing  its  common  life, 
the  common  thoughts  and  beliefs  and  feelings  are  gradually 
organized  into  a  complex  unity,  more  definite  ideas  control 
the  active  life  of  the  group,  and  the  consciousness  of  the 
essential  unity  of  the  whole  at  length  pervades  the  life  of 
each  member.  A  society  is  no  mere  conglomerate  of  men 
that  are  alike,  no  mere  association  which  men  may  share 
or  leave  at  will ;  the  solidarity  of  the  social  group  which 
has  been  indefinitely  and  imperfectly  described  by  the 
word  "  organic,"  finds  its  true  explanation  in  the  psychi- 
cal life  of  the  group. 

" Social  Mind"  a  Concrete  Phrase. — "Social  mind" 
and  "  Zeitgeist "  are  phrases  easy  to  use,  particularly  easy 


THE  SOCIAL  MIND  113 

to  use  without  any  definite  meaning.  In  the  first  part  of 
this  chapter  I  have  simply  attempted  to  give  a  definite  con- 
crete meaning  to  the  former  phrase,  so  that  it  could  be 
profitably  used  to  describe  the  psychical  character  of  the 
social  group.  The  different  groups  which  go  to  make  up 
society  in  a  given  nation  or  a  given  race,  are  determined  in 
various  ways  ;  physical  contiguity  or  desire  for  companion- 
ship may  have  been  the  original  deciding  factor  ;  but  the 
real  unity  of  each  group  consists  in  the  common  mental 
life  which  is  gradually  acquired.  This  is  the  true  state- 
ment of  the  essential  nature  of  a  society.  A  group  of  men 
becomes  really  one  as  a  common  mental  life  is  developed 
among  them  ;  they  learn  to  call  themselves  one  when  at 
length  they  recognize  this  common  mental  life. 

At  this  point  the  question  naturally  arises  whether  it  is  ad- 
vantageous for  society  that  this  unity  express  itself  in  the  out- 
ward form  of  some  institution.  The  cry  is  often  raised  that 
our  age  spends  its  energy  in  conventions,  associations,  and  the 
like,  while  the  ends  which  really  demand  our  effort  are  ob- 
scured by  the  machinery  for  accomplishing  them.  Undoubt- 
edly the  machine  is  often  the  form  which  takes  the  place  of 
real  life  ;  too  easily  it  becomes  an  end  in  itself,  and  so  can  no 
longer  justify  its  own  existence.  Still  those  who  raise  this  cry 
may  forget  that  the  forms  of  social  activity  are  really  becom- 
ing more  widely  differentiated  in  this  age  than  in  the  ages  that 
have  preceded  it,  and  institutions  are  necessary  to  the  new 
forms  of  common  life.  In  spite  of  all  the  dangers  that  attend 
institutions,  where  a  genuine  common  life  demands  an  out- 
ward organization  as  the  means  for  realizing  its  ends,  the  util- 
ity of  such  an  organization  can  hardly  be  doubted. 

Relation  of  the  Social  Mind  and  the  Individual'Mind.— 
The  only  recognition  of  the  dependence  of  the  individual 
mind  on  the  social  medium  which  appears  in  current 
thought,  is  indicated  by  the  word  "environment."  The 
doctrine  of  environment  simply  recognizes  the  fact  of  this 
dependence  on  the  social  medium,  without  going  on  to 
study  its  meaning  either  for  th»  individual  or  for  society. 


114:  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

Animal  life  involves  a  series  of  changes  in  correspondence 
with  the  changing  circumstances  in  which  it  is  placed ; 
these  circumstances  are  called  its  environment,  and  accord- 
ingly it  is  correct  to  say  that  its  life  is  in  large  measure 
determined  by  its  environment.  The  metaphor  from  biol- 
ogy has  only  a  partial  truth,  when  it  is  applied  to  minds 
in  their  relation  to  the  social  medium.  Its  truth  consists 
in  the  fact  of  constant  vital  dependence  which  marks  this 
relation  ;  its  error  is  that  it  always  seems  to  separate  the 
individual  from  that  of  which  he  really  forms  a  part.  In 
biology  this  error  is  unimportant,  for  social  relations  are 
the  least  essential  part  of  the  influences  which  effect  the 
physical  life  of  an  organism.  When,  however,  the  figure 
is  transferred  to  the  psychical  sphere,  the  error  is  unduly 
exaggerated  ;  the  environment  which  is  by  far  the  most 
»  potent  to  mould  the  developing  mind,  is  just  that  common 
psychical  life  of  which  the  individual  is  a  constituent  factor.1 
Indeed,  the  psychical  environment  is  nothing  but  a  series 
of  such  minds,  and  the  whole  question  to  be  solved  is  the 
principle  of  their  relation. 

The  common  life  of  a  social  group  is  essentially  the  union 
of  the  ideas,  the  wills,  and  the  feelings  of  men  who  have 
been  thrown  together  in  the  attainment  of  common  ends. 
Such  a  union  arises  as  the  result  of  a  psychical  change  of 
individuals  composing  the  group,  so  that  perhaps  it  is  fair 
to  say  that  it  consists  of  the  common  features  in  the  mental 
life  of  these  individuals.  Psychical  life  is  no  secretion  of 
a  single  man's  brain ;  psychical  life  means  that  different 
minds  are  working  together  in  the  same  activity,  and  this 
psychical  life  is  a  common  life  of  the  group.  The  factors 
of  the  social  group  are  indeed  distinct,  and  their  real  inde- 
pendence increases  as  it  has  a  larger  field  with  the  increas- 
ing psychical  life ;  the  mental  life  of  the  group  exists  in  and 
(  through  its  members.  In  a  word,  the  social  mind  has  no 
existence  outside  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  group, 
and  these  individuals  have  no  real  mental  life,  except  as 

1  Zeitschrift  filr  Vblkcrpsychologic,  ITI    53. 


they  enter  into  the  common  life  of  which  they  form  a  part. 
In  carrying  out  this  doctrine,  it  is  of  course  important  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  group  in  which  the  individual  finds 
and  develops  his  psychical  life,  is  ordinarily  not  simple,  but 
very  complex,  and  that  this  relation  is  in  large  measure  in- 
dependent of  time. 

The  Social  Mind  the  Product  of  Association. — In  con- 
clusion, I  desire  to  remind  the  reader  that  the  social  mind 
with  all  its  powers  is  the  product  of  association.  As  indi- 
viduals enter  into  the  psychical  relation  described  by  this 
word,  psychical  life  is  developed  at  the  same  time  for  the 
members  of  the  group  and  for  the  group  as  a  whole.  Ac- 
cordingly, everything  that  favors  a  more  active  interre- 
lation of  nascent  minds,  favors  equally  the  development 
of  the  social  mind  which  is  the  essence  of  society.  When 
groups  or  individuals,  with  different  training,  are  brought 
into  contact  with  each  other,  the  conditions  of  progress  are 
fulfilled,  for  progress  is  the  broadening  and  deepening  of 
common  life.  In  the  complex  relations  of  modern  society 
there  exists  the  best  basis  for  mental  achievement  which  the 
world  has  as  yet  produced,  for  this  complex  life  means  the 
constant  and  energetic  inter-activity  of  factors  by  nature 
very  different. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  SOCIETY,  AND  THE  SCIENCES  OF  MAN. 

The  fundamental  importance  of  the  science  of  society  is  most 
clearly  seen  from  the  standpoint  of  the  present  chapter.  In 
general  terms,  the  close  relation  of  sociology,  psychology,  and 
history,  could  be  outlined  in  the  introduction.  At  this  point, 
the  character  of  the  interrelation  of  the  sciences  is  made  more 
definite,  and  the  contribution  of  sociology  to  their  progress 
can  be  more  distinctly  outlined. 

Sociology  and  History,  especially  the  History  of  Civilization.— 
The  study  of  the  social  mind,  the  mind  of  the  social  group,  has 
already  made  it  evident  that  a  true  science  of  history  will  deal 
with  groups  rather  than  with  individuals.  It  is  true  enough 
that  the  great  man,  the  leader  in  historical  changes,  is  the 
heightened  example  of  the  type  of  a  class  ;  motives  and  intlu- 


116  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

ences  may  be  more  easily  detected  by  studying  such  an  exam- 
ple, and  forces  at  work  in  history  may  thus  be  presented  to 
the  student  with  greater  vividness.  The  fact  remains  that  the 
real  source  of  political  changes  is  to  be  found  in  the  life  of  the 
nation,  and  of  the  classes  composing  the  nation  ;  and  the  thor- 
ough student  of  history  must  be  equipped  with  what  sociology 
has  to  teach  as  to  the  nature  of  the  social  group.  The  more 
limited  history  of  civilization  deals  solely  with  the  social 
group  ;  and,  in  fact,  its  whole  aim  is  to  give  a  record  of  the 
growing  content  of  the  social  mind,  together  with  the  causes 
of  the  growth.  It  starts  with  the  recognition  of  the  social 
mind,  and  its  success  is  conditioned  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  this  mind.  It  studies  the  developing  civilization  of 
a  particular  group,  and  here,  too,  its  success  depends  on  a 
knowledge  of  the  laws  that  govern  the  development  of  social 
groups  in  all  their  various  aspects. 

Sociology  and  the  Genesis  of  Psychical  Processes. — Volumes  have 
been  written  to  show  how  the  complex  processes  of  the  developed 
mind  have  been  evolved  out  of  some  simple  process  which  can 
be  explained  in  terms  of  simple  nervous  action  in  the  brain. 
Sometimes  the  child's  development  has  been  made  the  basis  of 
this  study  ;  more  commonly  it  has  proceeded  on  hypothetical 
grounds  ;  the  end  remains  the  same,  viz.,  to  explain  the  evo- 
lution of  complex  psychical  processes  out  of  simple  elements. 
Much  of  this  labor  would  have  been  spared,  or,  at  any  rate,  it 
would  have  been  turned  into  a  profitable  channel,  if  the  stu- 
dent had  recognized  that  this  evolution  is  not  a  feature  of  the 
individual  mind,  but  of  the  social  mind.  The  individual  mind 
receives  these  capacities  as  a  gift  from  its  social  environment ; 
more  exactly,  it  develops  these  capacities  by  sharing  more  and 
more  completely  in  the  social  mind  of  which  it  is  destined  to 
form  a  part.  The  manner  in  which  it  develops  these  capacities 
and  processes  may  or  may  not  imitate  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  originally  acquired  ;  in  any  case,  the  true  place  to 
solve  the  problems  of  psychogenesis  is  in  the  history  of  the 
social  mind,  and  not  in  the  history  of  the  individual  mind. 
Even  the  theory  of  natural  selection,  with  all  the  new  light 
it  has  shed  on  this  matter,  does  not  permit  the  student  to  lose 
sight  of  the  social  group.  Races,  or  groups  of  men,  rather 
than  individual  men,  are  the  units  to  the  survival  of  which 
progress  in  due ;  and  in  this  process  the  social  mind  which 
enables  the  group  best  to  meet  the  conditions  of  life,  is  favored 
and  developed. 


THE   SOCIAL  MIND  117 

Attention  and  Comparison,  Generalization,  etc. — A  glance  at 
races  in  different  stages  of  development  is  sufficient  to  show 
that  the  interest  in  particular  objects,  and  the  power  to  con- 
centrate attention  upon  particular  objects,  vary  greatly. 
This  interest  and  power  the  individual  shares  with  the  group, 
and  the  factors  at  work  in  its  development  can  only  be  under- 
stood by  a  study  of  the  group-life.  In  a  word,  the  power  of 
abstraction  and  attention  is  the  result  of  association.  As  men 
and  groups  of  men  with  different  training  and  education  are 
brought  into  living  relation  with  each  other,  the  same  objects 
come  to  be  regarded  from  different  sides,  until  their  individ- 
uality stands  out  with  greater  distinctness.  Each  member 
of  the  new  group  brings  an  interest  in  a  slightly  different  set 
of  things,  so  that  the  range  of  interest  for  the  group  is  en- 
larged. Finally,  natural  selection  tends  to  perpetuate  each 
genuine  acquirement  in  breadth  of  interest,  and  particularly 
in  the  power  to  apprehend  individual  things  with  greater  dis- 
tinctness and  definiteness.  The  evolution  of  the  power  of  at- 
tention is  to  be  studied  in  the  social  mind,  for  it  originates 
here. — Similarly  the  power  of  generalization  and  classification 
is  a  social  product,  not  to  be  explained  by  any  study  of  the 
individual  mind.  Different  stages  of  civilization  show  this 
power  in  very  different  degrees.  The  savage  can  count  up  to 
five,  or,  perhaps,  ten.  The  Australians,  it  is  said,  have  a 
rich  vocabulary  of  words  for  birds  and  fishes,  but  no  general 
word  for  bird  or  fish.  Some  tribes  of  North  American  Indi- 
ans had  different  words  for  "  my  father  "  and  "  your  father," 
not  having  reached  so  abstract  a  word  as  "father."  This 
habit  of  mind,  like  the  habit  of  attention  to  particular  ob- 
jects, the  individual  gets  from  society  by  taking  the  place  open 
to  him  in  the  mental  life  of  the  group.  It  is  in  the  social 
mind  that  its  genesis  is  to  be  studied,  for  it  is  a  product  of  as- 
sociation. The  very  desire  to  communicate  with  one's  fellows, 
and  the  evolution  of  language  to  which  this  desire  leads,  have 
a  great  influence  in  training  the  mind  to  neglect  unimpor- 
tant differences,  and  to  seize  on  the  deeper  likeness.  By  the 
thought-intercourse  of  different  social  factors,  a  scientific  idea 
of  the  world  is  gradually  formed  and  filled  out  ;  in  this  pro- 
cess the  individual's  powers  are  ever  being  quickened  and  de- 
veloped. The  contact  and  amalgamation  of  different  groups, 
whatever  quickens  intercourse,  will  thus  have  its  effect  on  the 
development  of  the  psychical  powers.  Here,  again,  natural 
selection  tends  to  perpetuate  real  acquirements,  for  a  higher 


118  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

and  truer  idea  of  the  world  enables  a  tribe  better  to  cope  with 
the  physical  and  psychical  world  in  which  it  has  to  win  a 
place  for  itself.  Memory,  too  ;  the  power  of  judgment  by 
which  worth  is  assigned  to  the  parts  of  one's  world  ;  the 
power  of  choice  ;  these,  and  all  men's  psychical  powers  are 
developed  in  society,  and  so  their  genesis  must  be  studied  in 
society. 

Sociology  and  Logic  and  Ethics — Finally,  the  study  of  funda- 
mental principles  and  the  study  of  norms  and  ideals  have 
much  to  gain  from  the  study  of  the  social  mind.  Experience 
presupposes  some  a  priori  conceptions  or  principles,  and  with- 
out these  it  is  entirely  impossible  to  understand  it.  While  it 
is  true  that  these  principles  which  underlie  experience,  are  not 
developed  in  experience,  it  is  no  less  true  that  the  knowledge 
of  them  has  been  acquired  gradually;  this  process  is  to  be 
studied  in  the  history  of  the  social  mind.  The  existence  of 
such  a  thing  as  universally  valid  experience,  and  of  universal 
principles  which  underlie  this  experience,  is  perhaps  the  clear- 
est evidence  of  the  function  of  the  social  mind.  A  fact  is  true 
when  it  commends  itself  not  merely  to  one,  but  to  every  mind 
which  has  the  same  evidence  before  it,  and  the  same  power  of 
judging.  Truth  means  that  the  social  mind,  at  a  certain 
stage  of  development,  accepts  some  ideas  and  beliefs  as  abso- 
lutely valid  ;  the  principles  underlying  experience  work  in 
and  through  the  social  mind,  and  truth  is  the  stamp  of  agree- 
ment with  these  principles  which  is  set  on  facts  by  the  social 
mind. 

It  is  equally  true  that  norms  and  ideals  exist  in  the  social 
inind,  and  work  through  it.  These  do  not  yet  have  universal 
validity,  but,  we  say,  they  ought  to  be  universally  true.  Duty 
is  imposed  by  tke  social  mind;  an  action  is  right,  and  is  re- 
quired, when  the  social  mind  sets  on  it  the  stamp  of  agree- 
ment with  the  norms  and  ideals  which  characterize  this  phase 
of  society.  To  say  that  a  truth  comes  from  the  social  mind, 
is  not  to  condemn  it  but  to  give  the  immediate  explanation 
of  it. 

Further  example  is  unnecessary  to  show  that  the  sciences 
dealing  with  man  are  concerned  fundamentally  with  the  social 
mind.  The  partial  neglect  of  this  fact,  in  certain  periods,  has 
led  to  the  false  statement  of  problems,  and  false  methods  of 
investigation. 


PART  II 

FUNCTIONS  AND    "ORGANS"    OF  SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  VI 

CAUSES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY 

Social  Groups  depend  on  Social  Activities — Social  Force  versus  Stim- 
uli to  Social  Activity — Needs  of  the  Individual  stimulate  Social 
Activities — Classification  of  Social  Stimuli. 

I.  Essential  Stimuli.   1.  Need  of  Food  as  a  Stimulus  to  Social  Activity 

— Need  of  Protection  against  Cold  and  Wet — Fire  as  a  Socializer — 
Need  of  Food  and  Clothing  as  an  Economic  Stimuli — Fundamental 
Character  of  these  Needs — Their  wide  Range.  2.  Need  of  Pro- 
tection against  Fellow-men  as  a  Social  Stimulus — This  Need  va- 
ries with  the  Position  of  the  Individual  or  Tribe — The  early  State, 
as  meeting  this  Need — Need  of  Protection  in  Developed  Civiliza- 
tion— Increasing  Need  of  Protection  within  the  State.  3.  Emo- 
tions as  Causes  of  Social  Activity :  (a)  Self-regarding  Emotions 
in  Primitive  Society,  in  Developed  Society ;  (b)  General  Sym- 
pathetic Emotions;  (c)  Sympathetic  Emotions  directed  toward 
particular  Individuals — Broad  reach  of  Emotions  as  the  basis  of 
Family  Life. 

II.  Non-essential  or  Derived  Social  Stimuli.     1.  The  Love  of  the 
Beautiful  leads  to  Social  Activity.     2.  Intellectual  Needs  lead  to 
Social  Activity  ;  so  do  Moral  and  Religious  needs — Conclusion. 

Social  Groups  Depend  on  Social  Activities — Social 
groups,  as  has  already  been  shown,  are  properly  functional 
in  character,  i.e.,  the  groups  are  distinct  from  each  other, 
and  have  an  existence  of  their  own,  because  the  members 
of  them  have  formed  the  habit  of  acting  together.  Accord- 
ingly, it  is  necessary  to  study  the  different  modes  of  social 
activity,  an4  the  causes  of  this  activity,  before  it  is  pos- 

119 


120  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

sible  to  understand  the  peculiar  character  of  the  social 
groups  thus  formed.  Moreover,  the  classification  of  social 
activities  and  social  groups  depends  on  a  correct  concep- 
tion of  the  different  stimuli  which  produce  these  activ- 
ities. Those  writers  who  have  recognized  this  dynamic 
character  of  society  have  generally  discussed  the  topics  of 
the  present  chapter  under  the  title  "social  forces";  I 
prefer  to  speak  of  "social  stimuli,"  and  in  choosing  a 
different  term  I  may  properly  point  out  the  misconception 
which  I  believe  is  involved  in  the  use  of  the  former  one. 

Social  force  properly  denotes  the  energy  of  a  social 
group.  This  force  is  essentially  the  same  in  kind,  and  is  to 
be  determined  in  the  same  way,  for  each  of  the  different 
kinds  of  social  groups.  A  political  group  is  strong  to  con- 
tend with  other  groups,  political  or  economic  or  moral, 
when  the  elements  which  compose  it  are  strong,  and  when 
these  different  elements  can  work  harmoniously  together. 
The  energy  of  an  economic  corporation,  or  of  a  school  of 
thought  in  the  intellectual  world,  is  to  be  determined  in 
the  same  manner.  In  other  words,  the  force  or  energy  of 
a  social  group  is  something  wholly  independent  of  the 
kind  of  group ;  and  while  the  study  of  the  force  of  social 
bodies  is  very  important,  it  sheds  no  light  on  the  real 
nature  of  the  different  kinds  of  social  groups,  or  on  the 
structure  of  the  society  which  they  form.  Social  forces 
do  not  exist,  but  only  social  force,  and  the  study  of  this 
force  belongs  to  the  study  of  the  general  composition  of 
a  social  group.  Finally,  social  force  is  to  be  predicated  of 
the  group  as  a  whole  ;  social  stimuli  act  upon  individuals, 
and  may  be  called  social  only  because  they  lead  to  social 
activity. 

Needs  of  the  Individual  stimulate  the  Social  Activities. 
— All  social  activity  may  be  traced  back  to  motives  felt  by 
the  individual ;  and  the  nature  of  the  activity,  as  well  as 
its  intensity,  is  determined  by  the  stimulus  from  which  it 
springs.  While  social  force  is  purely  quantitative,  the 
stimuli  to  social  activity  are  first  of  all  qualitative,  and  are 


CAUSES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  121 

' 

distinguished  by  their  different  qualities.  Inasmuch  as  all 
social  activity  finds  its  starting-point  and  stimulus  in  the 
individual,  the  present  chapter  will  be  a  study  of  man's 
desires  and  emotions  as  social  stimuli.  The  life  of  society 
is  so  bound  up  with  the  life  of  the  units  which  compose  it, 
that  a  study  of  the  individual's  motives  to  action  leads  di- 
rectly to  the  different  forms  of  activity  which  characterize 
society. 

Classification  of  Social  Stimuli. — In  general,  the  stim- 
uli to  social  activity  may  be  classified  as  original  and  de- 
rived. The  first  class  includes  those  needs  and  emotions 
which  are  practically  universal,  and  which  do  not  depend 
on  a  developed  state  of  society  for  their  existence.  The 
derived  stimuli  include  such  needs  and  emotions  as  imply 
a  somewhat  advanced  state  of  society,  and  only  arise  in  the 
course  of  social  development.  The  first  class  will  include 
(a)  the  need  of  food  and  clothing,  to  which  the  sensations 
of  hunger  and  of  cold  give  rise,  (b)  the  need  of  protection 
against  one's  fellow-men,  which  is  accompanied  by  the  feel- 
ing of  fear  ;  and  (c)  the  need  of  companionship,  and  the 
emotions  associated  with  the  social  relations  of  men.  The 
activity  due  to  these  stimuli  will  vary  exceedingly  in  the 
course  of  social  development,  but  these  needs  of  men  as 
individuals  remain  the  basis  of  all  life  in  society.  The 
second  class  may  be  called  derived  stimuli,  for  social  life 
itself  develops  new  desires,  and  these  in  turn  lead  to  higher 
forms  of  social  activity.  Under  this  head  may  be  in- 
cluded aesthetic  desires,  intellectual  needs,  the  need  of 
moral  approval,  and,  finally,  the  need  of  religious  com- 
munion. 

I.  ESSENTIAL  STIMULI 

I.  Need  of  Food  and  of  Warmth. — The  need  of  food  is 
the  original  spur  to  social  activity,  and  the  last  to  lose  its 
force.  It  was  undoubtedly  true  of  primitive  men,  as  it  is 
true  of  wolves  and  vultures,  that  they  joined  in  the  pursuit 
of  food  whenever  the  great  results  thus  obtained  compen- 


122  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

sated  for  the  difficulty  of  getting  along  together.  Roots 
may  be  grubbed  up  and  fruits  gathered  in  their  season  by 
scattered  individuals,  but  there  are  few  animals  which  man 
could  capture  unarmed  and  alone.  Tools  can  only  be 
evolved  and  transmitted  in  society,  and  every  permanent 
gain  in  the  battle  for  sustenance  must  have  been  due  to 
combined  activity.  The  domestication  of  animals  and  the 
cultivation  of  grains  were  possible  only  when  man  had 
learned  to  depend  on  his  neighbor  for  constant  aid  as  well 
as  for  protection.  The  need  of  food  in  regular  supply  and 
in  sufficient  variety  has  always  led  to  associated  activity, 
for  it  could  only  be  satisfied  by  such  associated  activity. 
The  same  need  has  always  continued  to  be  a  factor  in 
social  progress,  because  the  more  highly  developed  society 
is,  the  better  it  is  able  to  meet  the  economic  needs  of  its 
members. 

Need  of  Protection  against  Cold  and  Wet. — The  need 
of  protection  against  cold  and  wet  is  hardly  less  impor- 
tant than  the  need  of  food,  in  its  effect  on  social  activity 
and  on  social  progress.  The  common  form  of  clothing 
among  the  more  primitive  tribes  is  the  skin  of  an  animal, 
and  in  order  to  obtain  it,  several  individuals  have  joined 
in  the  hunt.  The  rude  cloth,  which  in  many  places 
succeeded  fur  as  a  garment,  was  both  a  social  invention 
and  a  social  product.  Again,  men  come  to  need  a  dwell- 
ing, though  caves  and  trees  may  serve  the  purpose  for  a 
while.  The  form  of  this  dwelling  is  gradually  perfected  in 
society,  and  transmitted  in  social  tradition.  Generally 
the  dwelling  is  put  up  by  the  group,  requiring  associated 
activity  to  produce  it.  Moreover  the  house  is  not  inhabited 
by  one  man  alone,  but  by  a  family  or  a  group  of  families. 
Thus  the  need  of  protection  against  cold  and  wet  tends  to 
bring  a  group  into  closer  and  more  enduring  relations, 
until  these  units  have  sufficient  solidarity  to  become  factors 
in  some  permanent  larger  group.  The  dwelling  has  also  an 
important  influence  on  the  character  of  the  social  group, 
in  that  it  is  the  beginning  of  privacy.  Neither  virtue  nor 


CAUSES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  123 

the  individuality  which  virtue  implies  is  possible  when 
men  live  together  without  means  of  seclusion.  This  means 
of  seclusion  the  dwelling  furnishes,  so  that  it  may  fittingly 
be  called  the  beginning  of  civilization. 

Fire  as  a  Socializer. — Man  is  the  only  animal  so  far  as 
known  which  uses  fire.  Fire  is  important  in  satisfying 
both  man's  need  of  suitable  food  and  his  need  of  protection 
against  cold.  In  this  latter  capacity  it  serves  the  same  pur- 
pose as  the  dwelling-house  in  bringing  men  together,  and 
teaching  them  to  enjoy  each  other's  society.  Its  warmth  is 
genial,  in  that  it  renders  those  who  gather  about  it  genial 
toward  each  other  and  fond  of  each  other's  society.  For 
every  age  the  hearth  is  the  symbol  of  the  home.  Somewhat 
difficult  to  obtain  and  to  preserve,  fire  is  distinctly  a  social 
possession,  and  those  who  would  enjoy  it  must  remain  mem- 
bers of  society. 

Needs  of  Food  and  Clothing  as  an  Economic  Stimulus. 
— With  the  beginning  of  a  proper  economic  activity,  the 
need  of  food  and  of  protection  against  cold  and  wet  became 
even  more  potent  factors  in  producing  an  active  social  life. 
This  economic  activity  generally  began  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  slavery.  Warriors  preserved  their  captives  when 
they  produced  more  food  than  they  carried  on  their  bones. 
The  economic  needs  which  formerly  had  been  satisfied  by 
labor  or  by  plunder,  now  led  to  the  introduction  of  that 
great  institution  which  has  been  the  starting-point  of  hu- 
man culture.1  When  once  slavery  became  general,  masters 
had  the  possibility  of  leisure  for  other  forms  of  activity,  and 
the  complex  fabric  of  truly  human  society  began  to  arise. 
The  same  needs  which  led  to  the  introduction  of  slavery 
contributed  to  sustain  it.  The  master  provided  his  slaves 
with  food  and  clothing,  they  gathered  about  his  hearth  as 
members  of  his  household,  he  possessed  the  fire  where  they 
found  protection  against  the  cold.  Thus  the  patriarchal 
household  was  secure  and  stable  because  in  its  life  master 
and  slave  alike  found  these  fundamental  needs  satisfied. 
1  Article  "  Slavery,"  in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 


124  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

These  Needs  the  Basis  of  Society. — In  the  whole  course 
of  industrial  progress  these  original  needs  of  man  have 
remained  the  strongest  and  most  universally  potent,  and 
to-day  they  are  still  fundamental.  In  regions  naturally 
barren,  or  where  social  conditions  have  made  it  difficult  to 
secure  sustenance,  the  higher  forms  of  society  have  never 
prospered.  Only  when  men  are  fed  and  warmed  have  they 
any  leisure  or  interest  for  higher  social  activities.  And 
those  who  deal  with  the  degenerate  classes  learn  to  appre- 
ciate the  force  of  these  needs  as  spurs  to  progress.  The 
most  hopeless  cases  are  those  which  practically  have  no 
standard  of  living  and  are  ready  to  accept  whatever 
fortune  brings.  The  first  work  of  the  man  who  would 
help  such  individuals  is  to  make  them  feel  new  needs, 
to  make  them  dissatisfied  with  having  nothing,  that, 
in  the  effort  for  something,  the  habit  of  effort  may  be 
formed. 

Upon  these  fundamental  stimuli  depends  the  whole  in- 
dustrial fabric.  They  are  as  potent  to  rouse  men  to  activ- 
ity when  each  individual  performs  some  slight  part  in 
preparing  goods  for  the  world-market,  as  when  a  savage 
provides  the  food  of  a  savage  for  himself  and  his  family. 
Stupendous  economic  institutions  have  been  called  into  be- 
ing, the  whole  world  has  become  one  vast  society  for  the 
production  and  interchange  of  goods,  and  the  stimuli  which 
have  given  rise  to  the  whole  and  still  keep  it  in  motion  are 
these  simple  needs  of  man's  physical  nature.  The  economic 
structure  is  as  universal  as  these  needs — practically  no  one 
can  separate  himself  from  it  and  live.  And  it  will  appear 
later  that  this  structure  is  the  basis  of  the  higher  forms  of 
social  life.  Political  life  and  the  state  have  arisen  in  the 
effort  to  defend  property  as  well  as  life.  The  economic 
struggle  for  existence  has  fairly  become  an  intellectual 
struggle,  and  mind  is  developed  in  the  effort  to  maintain  a 
position  in  the  economic  world.  Moral  rules  and  aesthetic 
ideals  are  not  independent  of  economic  life,  but  rather  its 
offspring. 


CAUSES  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY  125 

Wide  Range  of  Activity  Stimulated  by  these  Needs. — 
Thus  with  the  development  of  society  the  power  of  these 
needs  becomes  greater,  the  activity  occasioned  by  them 
grows  more  varied,  and  the  range  of  this  activity  is  in- 
creased. The  savage  eats  when  he  has  game,  and  takes 
no  thought  of  another  meal  in  the  future  ;  hunger  comes 
over  him,  and  once  more  he  feels  an  impulse  stimulating 
him  to  activity.  The  civilized  man  constantly  feels  the 
power  of  these  stimuli,  and  all  his  life  is  governed  with  ref- 
erence to  the  satisfaction  of  these  needs  as  they  recur.  And 
in  complex  society  these  needs  are  no  longer  satisfied  by 
what  will  merely  sustain  life  and  protect  the  body  from  ex- 
tremes of  temperature.  Society  has  created  a  higher  "  stand- 
ard of  living,"  as  it  is  called,  and  this  determines  the  food 
and  the  clothing  that  are  needed.  The  number  of  courses 
absolutely  necessary  for  dinner  depends  on  rank  in  society  ; 
fashion  decides  what  clothing  is  required ;  the  dwelling- 
house  is  not  for  protection  but  for  "  comfort."  Under  the 
altered  conditions  the  activity  stimulated  by  these  needs 
changes  its  entire  character.  In  order  to  supply  the  new 
needs  more  activity  is  necessary,  and  activity  in  a  far  greater 
and  more  complex  social  organization.  They  can  only  be 
satisfied  in  a  stable  organization,  so  that  as  they  become 
more  complex  men  hesitate  more  and  more  before  lending 
countenance  to  schemes  subversive  of  the  existing  social 
order.  Finally,  the  ideals  associated  with  the  "  standard 
of  living  "  have  an  important  influence  in  shaping  other 
forms  of  social  activity  than  the  economic. 

2.  Need  of  Protection  against  Fellow-men. — The  sec- 
ond original  social  stimulus  is  the  need  of  protection  against 
one's  fellow-beings.  In  all  stages  of  society,  but  particu- 
larly in  the  lower,  hostile  influences  surround  man.  An 
animal  must  have  some  means  of  defence,  either  strength 
to  fight  or  speed  to  run  away.  Man  lives  in  many  quarters 
of  the  globe  where  neither  his  speed  nor  his  strength  of  arm 
can  protect  him  from  his  foes.  He  must  rely  on  some  higher 
means  of  defence  or  perish  ;  and  it  is  only  as  men  fight  in 


126  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

groups,  and  with  the  reason  that  is  developed  and  trans- 
mitted by  mutual  intercourse,  that  they  can  hope  to  sub- 
due to  themselves  the  beasts  of  the  field.  But  the  worst 
foe  of  man  is  man  himself.  Under  peculiar  circumstances, 
some  savage  races  have  lived  in  such  small  and  fluid  groups 
that,  on  the  whole,  they  have  succeeded  in  avoiding  each 
other.  Ordinarily  this  is  impossible,  and  man  has  found 
protection  from  his  fellows  by  uniting  with  his  fellows. 
AVe  find  the  same  process  as  in  the  formation  of  physical 
units;  the  component  parts  form  temporary  and  ever- 
changing  alliances  in  their  ceaseless  competitions  with  each 
other.  For  man  protection  means  defensive  strength ;  and 
the  need  of  this  leads  to  union,  to  the  beginnings  of  a  com- 
mon life  that  may  become  political.  Such  groups,  with 
strength  to  defend  the  individual,  are  a  necessity,  and  ex- 
pulsion from  the  tribe  often  amounts  to  a  sentence  of  death. 
This  need  of  protection  manifests  itself  in  the  emotional 
life  as  fear,  and  the  fear  of  hostility  has  come  to  include 
as  a  part  of  its  very  being  the  instinct  for  union,  so  that 
nothing  is  so  potent  as  fear  to  kindle  delight  in  the  pres- 
ence of  others.  Many  savage  tribes  only  unite  in  the 
presence  of  a  common  danger,  and  fear  is  always  a  potent 
force  in  developing  functional  bonds  of  union. 

This  Need  Varies  with  the  Position  of  the  Individual 
or  Tribe. — The  degree  of  strength  (defensive  or  offensive) 
which  a  tribe  is  likely  to  attain,  is  in  large  measure  deter- 
mined by  the  demands  made  on  it.  The  phrase,  "  balance 
of  power,"  has  a  certain  physical  significance  in  the  poli- 
tics of  savage  tribes ;  to  find  a  place  among  strong  tribes, 
a  tribe  must  itself  be  strong,  else  it  cannot  preserve 
its  independence.  Nor  is  a  tribe  likely  to  develop  great 
strength  among  weak  neighbors;  where  pressure  from 
outside  is  lacking,  an  empire  may  break  up  through  the 
very  repulsion  of  its  parts,  so  soon  as  the  military  power 
which  constructed  it  grows  weak.  Thus  the  form  in 
which  this  need  of  protection  is  met,  is  determined  by 
natural  selection.  Strength  is  developed  according  to  the 


CAUSES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  127 

need,  and  the  tribe  that  fails  to  develop  it  goes  to  the 
wall. 

The  Early  State  Meets  this  Need. — The  rude  political 
body  thus  formed  as  a  protection  for  life,  is  a  most  impor- 
tant social  unit.  It  is  the  germ  of  the  state,  and  under 
the  protection  of  its  growing  power  we  may  expect  to 
find  the  beginnings  of  true  economic  life,  and  the  more 
rapid  advancement  of  social  and  psychical  life.  In  this 
group  the  individual  finds,  in  the  first  place,  protection 
from  outside,  a  little  world  in  which  ordinarily  he  can  live 
at  peace  ;  and  such  peace  is  the  first  condition  of  progress. 
Secondly,  he  is  obliged  to  cultivate  a  modus  vivendi  with 
his  fellows  who  are  members  of  the  same  little  world. 
Here  we  find  the  beginnings  of  property ;  men  agree  to  re- 
spect certain  possessions  of  their  neighbors.  Here  also  are 
to  be  found  the  beginnings  of  law  and  rights,  and  perhaps 
the  beginnings  of  ethics. 

Need  of  Protection  in  Developed  Civilization. — With 
the  development  of  society,  the  function  of  protection 
from  outside  attack  becomes  even  more  important  than 
at  first,  for  the  higher  stages  of  culture  depend  absolutely 
upon  such  a  shelter  as  is  afforded  by  the  state.  A  higher 
civilization  has  so  much  more  at  stake,  as  it  rises  from 
lower  stages,  that  those  who  prize  it  will  sacrifice  corre- 
spondingly more  to  shelter  it.  Undoubtedly  the  cost  of 
government  is  excessively  great  to-day,  but  comparatively 
few  murmurs  are  heard  against  this.  The  debt  of  civiliza- 
tion to  the  state  takes  form  in  the  sentiment  of  patriotism, 
which  is  gradually  developed  as  the  strongest  support  of 
the  state,  a  sentiment  the  strength  of  which  we  only  know 
when  some  danger  impends. 

At  the  same  time  the  state  continues  to  protect  a  man 
from  his  neighbors,  for  it  is  this  need  of  protection  which 
keeps  in  motion  the  whole  apparatus  of  law,  both  legisla- 
tive and  judiciary.  Here  the  stimulus  has  increased  both 
in  range  and  in  intensity.  It  is  stronger  to-day,  for  there 
is  more  to  be  protected.  In  primitive  society  it  is  a  day's  work 


128  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

only  that  may  be  stolen  ;  while  now  the  accumulations  of 
generations  are  to  be  protected  by  law.  Its  range  is  largely 
increased.  The  chief  of  a  primitive  tribe  only  gives  ad- 
vice which  may  aid  in  the  settlement  of  disputes,  and  a 
man  has  hardly  any  rights  which  his  neighbor  is  bound  to 
respect.  The  individual's  rights,  with  the  liberties  and 
the  duties  which  they  imply,  are  even  to-day  increasing 
rapidly  in  the  highest  civilizations  we  know  ;  and  there  is 
a  corresponding  increase  in  what  society  may  undertake  in 
securing  to  the  individual  his  rights.  Apart  from  all  ques- 
tion as  to  the  proper  fields  of  state  activity,  the  functions 
of  the  police  and  of  the  courts  in  the  mere  exercise  of  pro- 
tection are  many-fold  greater  than  they  were  two  or  three 
centuries  ago  in  civilized  Europe.1  In  a  word,  we  may  say 
that  the  whole  range  of  political  activity  goes  back  for  its 
fundamental  stimulus  to  the  simple  need  of  protection. 

3.  Emotions  as  Causes  of  Social  Activity. — This  is  not 
the  place  to  trace  in  detail  the  emotions  which  at  all  times 
have  determined  man's  attitude  toward  his  fellows.  But 
while  these  emotions  have  not  resulted  in  definite  social  in- 
stitutions, their  influence  has  been  felt  as  an  aid  or  a  hin- 
drance in  all  forms  of  activity,  and  in  the  development  of 
all  kinds  of  institutions.  From  the  stand-point  of  sociolog- 
ical investigation,  they  may  naturally  be  divided  into  two 
classes:  the  self-regarding,  such  as  envy  and  anger;  and 
those  which  centre  on  others — sympathy,  friendship,  and 
love. 

(a)  Self -regarding  Emotions. — The  conditions  of  prim- 
itive society  favored  the  development  of  self-regarding 
emotions,  and  did  not  supply  the  checks  which  in  later 
times  have  restrained  their  operation.  Egoism  is  a  uni- 
versal attribute  among  savage  races,  and  in  many  countries 
the  strained  effort  to  procure  sustenance  does  not  permit 
man  to  forget  himself.  Anger,  not  being  subject  to  the 
restraints  of  later  times,  seems  to  be  only  destructive  of 
justice;  but  anger  becomes  revenge,  and,  historically,  re- 
1  Leroy-Beaulieu,  The  Modern  State,  Bk.  III.  ch.  ii. 


CAUSES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  129 

venge  is  the  strong  tap-root  of  what  is  to  become  justice. 
Envy  and  rivalry  generally  seem  to  be  destructive  of  the 
slow-growing  habits  of  civilization.  Envy  of  another's  pros- 
perity is  a  motive  to  slay  him,  until  the  prosperous  man 
comes  to  fear  even  the  envy  of  the  gods.  Rivalry  between 
two  tribes  has  often  prolonged  their  feuds  until  both  were 
crippled.  And  yet  the  activity  produced  by  these  stimuli 
has  frequently  been  the  very  thing  necessary  for  progress ; 
for  unless  this  or  some  other  equally  potent  force  had 
roused  men  from  the  inertia  of  the  savage,  and  had  broken 
the  habit  which  had  become  a  barrier  to  progress,  a  tribe 
would  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the  very  progress  it  had  made 
in  the  past. 

As  civilization  has  advanced,  the  destructive  effects  of 
anger  and  revenge  have  been  in  a  measure  controlled. 
Justice  is  supposed  to  have  passed  beyond  the  stage  of 
vigilance  committees  and  lynching.  None  the  less,  the  arm 
of  justice  still  depends  on  a  righteous  anger  to  stimulate 
its  action,  and  it  is  only  the  coward  who  does  not  resent  an 
insult.  To-day  rivalry  and  ambition  are  forces  mighty  to 
determine  the  lives  of  men  and  the  course  of  society.  Busi- 
ness life  and  political  life  are  ruled  by  the  desire  for  per- 
sonal advancement ;  scholars  and  artists  pursue  knowledge 
and  art  for  their  own  personal  ends ;  and  too  often  the 
highest  forms  of  activity  are  marred  by  most  petty  jeal- 
ousies. At  the  same  time  the  necessary  spur  to  activity  is 
found  in  the  desire  to  succeed,  and  to  succeed  better  than 
one's  neighbors.  In  this  way  the  love  of  acquisition,  vanity 
and  the  love  of  display,  the  love  of  praise,  the  whole  list  of 
self-regarding  emotions,  are  stimuli  to  social  activity  ;  and 
the  current  of  social  life  is  directed  by  the  feelings  of  in- 
dividuals. 

(b)  General  Sympathetic  -Emotions. — It  is  unnecessary 
to  dwell  on  the  importance  of  sympathy  and  the  love 
of  companionship  as  stimuli  to  social  activity.  In  their 
lowest  form  they  are  manifested  as  sympathetic  fear  and 
sympathetic  pleasure ;  a  group  of  men  share  the  fear  of 


130  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

one,  or  the  glad  state  of  one  is  infectious  and  determines 
the  mood  of  all.  The  faculty  of  imitation  is  related  to  this 
form  of  sympathy ;  we  all  have  a  tendency  to  act  out  what 
we  think  and  what  we  see  others  doing,  so  that  modes  of 
action  as  well  as  feelings  tend  to  spread  through  the  group.1 
Important  as  this  instinctive  sympathy  is  in  uniting  the 
primitive  group  and  rendering  it  homogeneous,  it  is  very 
far  from  the  distinctly  human  love  of  companionship.  The 
higher  forms  of  friendship  depend  on  personality,  and 
personality  is  developed  in  society.  The  lower  love  of 
companionship  manifests  itself  to-day  in  the  club,  and  in 
many  of  the  forms  of  activity  known  as  "  polite  society." 
Friendship  and  love  are  higher  developments  of  this  emo- 
tion, and  unite  smaller  groups  in  a  closer,  more  permanent, 
union. 

(c)  Sympathetic  Emotions  directed  toward  particular 
Individuals. — Besides  these  general  sympathetic  emotions 
there  are  others,  more  or  less  closely  associated  with  the 
sexual  instinct,  which  have  as  their  object  particular  indi- 
viduals. This  class  of  emotions  is  by  far  the  most  direct 
stimulus  to  social  activity,  for  it  results  in  the  family. 
The  extent  of  the  social  group  thus  formed  varies  widely, 
and  its  character  changes  with  its  extent.  Among  ani- 
mals, as  well  as  among  men,  it  includes  the  offspring,  for 
the  young  must  be  protected  and  fed.  Finally  the  family 
clan  may  include  all  who  believe  they  are  descended  from 
common  parentage.  The  clan  based  on  blood-relationship 
has  quite  generally  preceded  the  tribe  as  the  conserver  of 
culture  and  the  administrator  of  justice,  so  that  the  tie  of 
blood  has  opened  the  way  for  various  and  most  important 
social  activities. 

The  emotions  connected  with  the  sexual  instinct  are  but 
the  starting-point  for  the  unity  of  the  family,  for  the  in- 
dividuals who  are  thus  brought  together  enter  into  new  and 
broader  relations.  The  family  proper  constitutes  a  unit 

1  The  early  stages  of  the  development  of  sympathetic  emotions  may 
easily  be  studied  in  young  children. 


CAUSES  OP  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY  131 

in  which  the  different  members  perform  different  functions 
for  the  good  of  the  whole.  The  "  parental  instinct/* 
fostered  by  dependent  children,  increases  indefinitely  the 
power  of  the  stimuli  to  economic  and  political  activity 
already  considered.  The  new  relations  of  the  family  are 
the  most  powerful  stimulus  impelling  man  to  look  beyond 
the  present  and  to  provide  for  emergencies  in  the  future  ; 
and  they  are  also  a  stimulus  impelling  him  to  look  above  the 
present.  The  family  develops  the  habit  of  providence  and 
the  habit  of  progress.  In  every  stage  of  social  develop- 
ment family  interests  are  the  strongest  stimulus  to  activ- 
ity for  the  good  of  others.  Brother  is  ready  to  die  for 
brother,  or  the  mother  for  her  child,  long  before  duties 
to  man  as  man  are  recognized.  Nor  is  there  ever  any 
stronger  motive  to  the  sacrifice  of  self  for  another  than  the 
love  that  is  developed  in  the  family.  As  civilization  ad- 
vances, family  life  gains  in  power  as  a  stimulus  to  social 
activities.  Everything  pure  and  noble  centres  in  the 
home,  and  the  relations  of  the  family  are  the  truest  stimu- 
lus to  the  higher  forms  of  activity,  viz.,  intellectual,  moral, 
and  religious  activities. 

II.  NON-ESSENTIAL  OR  DERIVED  SOCIAL  STIMULI 

The  non-essential  or  derived  stimuli  to  social  activity 
differ  from  those  already  discussed  in  that  they  are  not  so 
universal,  and  that  their  very  existence  as  well  as  their 
power  seems  to  be  due  in  large  measure  to  civilization  it- 
self. They  exist  only  for  men  and  for  societies  which  have 
developed  the  faculty  of  reason.  In  a  highly  developed 
state  of  society  they  may  far  exceed  the  lower  stimuli  in 
power,  and  even  become  the  basis  of  society  .v 

i.  The  Love  of  the  Beautiful  leads  to  Social  Ac- 
tivity.— The  aesthetic  desires  of  man,  his  love  of  the 
beautiful  which  is  satisfied  only  by  the  perception  of 
beautiful  things,  are  important  stimuli  to  social  activity. 
The  sense  of  the  beautiful  is  developed  in  society,  and  re- 


132  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

mains  a  social  possession.  The  desire  to  express  ideals  in 
forms  of  sense,  and  to  make  beautiful  objects,  leads  to 
much  social  activity.  The  creation  of  ideals  requires  a 
knowledge  of  the  deepest  problems  of  life,  and  obliges  the 
artist  to  be  in  a  large  sense  a  social  man.  He  must  be  in 
touch  with  life,  or  his  work  will  not  be  living.  While  the 
stimulus  comes  from  the  apprehension  of  truth,  the  form 
in  which  the  ideal  is  seen  and  in  which  it  may  be  expressed, 
is  no  private  possession  ;  and  the  effort  to  create  what  is 
beautiful  leads  to  peculiar  types  of  social  activity  and  of 
social  classes. 

The  power  to  appreciate  beautiful  objects  also  stimulates 
social  activity.  Beautiful  paintings  and  the  products  of 
plastic  art  cannot  be  fully  known  except  by  those  who  go 
over  the  civilized  world  to  see  them  face  to  face.  Yet 
to-day  the  dissemination  of  accurate  reproductions  has  be- 
come a  very  important  industry  in  itself.  The  drama  is 
written  for  an  audience  to  share.  Music  shows  its  real 
power  when  it  makes  a  thousand  hearers  as  one  man,  and 
takes  full  possession  of  this  soul.  A  share  in  the  same 
ideals,  whatever  be  the  form  of  their  expression,  produces 
new  intimacies  among  individuals,  and  new  social  groups 
are  directly  formed  as  the  result. 

The  reaction  of  this  love  of  the  beautiful  on  the  stimuli 
already  considered  cannot  be  overlooked.  These  desires 
presuppose  the  satisfaction  of  the  lower  needs  before 
they  have  a  real  opportunity  to  assert  their  power.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  cultivation  of  these  higher  needs  is  the 
most  vital  stimulus  to  satisfy  lower  needs,  and,  as  it  were, 
to  set  them  aside.  Two  results  have  been  noted  from  the 
attempt  to  introduce  art  education  among  the  lower  classes 
in  England.1  In  the  first  place,  even  moderate  success 
has  resulted  in  a  most  powerful  stimulus  to  shake  off  habits 
of  poverty  and  inertia.  Men  who  could  make  time  for  the 
satisfaction  of  higher  needs,  received  just  the  necessary 
encouragement  to  do  this.  And,  secondly,  the  recognition 
,  '  Cf.  Bosanquct,  Essays  and  Addresses,  London.  1891,  pp.  25  sqq. 


CAUSES  OF   SOCIAL  ACTIVITY  133 

of  the  ideal  in  forms  of  sense  has  in  some  cases,  even  as 
Plato  suggests,  opened  men's  eyes  for  the  higher  truth  in 
some  of  its  other  forms.  Any  genuine  love  of  the  beautiful 
modifies  the  whole  of  life. 

2.  Intellectual    Needs    lead    to    Social    Activity. — 
Men's  intellectual  needs  are  no  small  factor  in  determining 
the  character  and  intensity  of  social  life.     The  strength  of 
these  needs  is  shown  by  the  institutions  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  truth,  by  institutions  for  investigation,  and  by  the 
intellectual  intercourse  to  which  they  give  rise.     The  first 
class  of  institutions  include  the  school,  the  platform,  and 
the  press.     They  exist  simply  to  satisfy  man's  need  of 
truth,  and  of  a  mind  developed  to  know  the  truth.     We 
believe  that  the  youth  should  start  in  life  with  a  certain 
mental  equipment ;  and  the  needs  thus  developed  are  a 
constant  stimulus  to  intellectual   intercourse,  else  they 
would  be  hardly  worth  developing.     The  second  class  of 
institutions  express  this  need  in  a  yet  stronger  form.     The 
scholar  studies  for  himself,  because  the  spirit  within  him 
can  only  be  satisfied  by  a  constantly  enlarging  view  of 
truth.     And  he  studies  for  society  ;  the  intellectual  world 
awaits  the  communication  of  his  discoveries.     Every  ad- 
vance in  literature  or  in  science  widens  man's  interests, 
and  strengthens  his  need  of  truth.     Society,  in  both  the 
lower  and  higher  forms  of  its  activity,  is  profoundly  af- 
fected by  this  stimulus. 

3.  Moral  and  Religious  Needs  Lead  to  Social  Activity. 
— It  is  unnecessary  to  treat  in  detail  the  need  of  moral 
approval  and  the  need  of  moral  association,  or  the  need 
of  religious  communion,  as  stimuli  to  social  activity.     In 
some  finely  constituted  minds  the  sense  of  right  and  duty 
seems  to  be  the  only  spring  of    activity.     Apparently 
they  can  dispense  with  the  stimulus  due  to  any  lower 
need,  and  even  with  the  support  to  be  drawn  from  com- 
munion with  a  higher  power.     The  friendship  based  on 
love  for  the  same  moral  ideals  is  one  of  the  highest,  purest, 
forms  of  friendship.     The  power  of  moral  ideals  to  stimu- 


134  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

late  and  control  social  life,  is  shown  almost  as  clearly  in 
the  lower  as  in  the  higher  stages  of  society.  So  man's 
need  of  religious  communion  with  God,  and  religious  as- 
sociation with  his  fellows,  has  always  brought  men  together 
in  common  worship  of  God.  The  power  of  this  motive  is 
evident  only  when  all  the  influence  of  culture  and  all  the 
authority  of  the  state  have  been  exerted  to  prevent  its  nor- 
mal expression  in  religious  activity.  But  when  it  is  al- 
lowed to  develop  in  normal  religious  life,  the  institutions 
to  which  it  gives  rise  and  their  influence  on  every  side  of 
social  life,  are  a  constant  evidence  of  its  social  importance. 
Like  the  moral  ideal,  but  with  a  more  personal  appeal,  the 
religious  need  claims  the  right  to  take  possession  of  all  the 
others  and  stamp  its  impress  on  them.  It  so  governs  and 
controls  the  whole  of  life,  that  the  history  of  religion  may 
almost  claim  to  be  the  history  of  society. 

Conclusion. — To  these  various  stimuli  affecting  the  in- 
dividuals who  compose  society,  are  due  the  life  and  activity 
of  society.  Two  things  are  clear  as  the  result  of  this  dis- 
cussion. First,  the  life  of  society  centres  in  individuals  ; 
and  these  two  factors,  society  and  the  individual,  can  only 
be  understood  by  studying  them  as  interacting  factors. 
Secondly,  the  different  forms  of  social  activity,  and  the 
different  social  aggregates  arising  in  each  form,  should  be 
classified  according  to  the  simple  stimuli  to  which  each 
form  of  activity  is  due. 


THE  MODES   OF   SOCIAL  ACTIVITY 

Variety  of  Social  Phenomena — Genetic  Principle  of  Classification — 
Its  Meaning,  its  Value,  and  its  Application. 

I.  Economic  Mode  of  Social  Activity.   Rise  of  Economic  Activity — 

The  three  phases :  (a)  Circulation,  (6)  Consumption,  (c)  Produc- 
tion— Rise  of  Groups  and  Institutions  in  Economic  Activity — 
Relation  of  Economic  Activity  to  Other  Forms  of  Social  Life. 

II.  "  Social"  Activity  of  Society.    Character  of  "Social"  Groups — 
Custom  the  Fundamental  Type  of  all  Social  Authority — Relation 
of  "  Social "  Activity  to  other  Forms  of  Social  Life. 

III.  Political  Activity  of  Society.   Political  Life  and  other  forms  of 
Social  Activity. 

IV.  Psychical  Activity  of  Society.     1.  JEsthetic  Stimuli.     2.  Intellec- 
ual  Activity  and  Institutions.     3.  Moral  Activity  and  Institutions. 
4.  Religious  Activity  and  Institutions — Relation  of  Psychical  Ac- 
tivity to  other  forms  of  Social  Activity — Conclusion. 

Variety  of  Social  Phenomena.— The  student  desiring 
to  understand  the  complex  life  of  society  and  the  lines  of 
its  development,  finds  himself  in  difficulty  at  the  outset, 
because  of  the  confused  variety  of  phenomena  that  present 
themselves  to  him.  The  first  work  of  the  new  science  of 
society,  the  classification  of  social  phenomena,  has  not  yet 
been  done  with  any  success.  Earlier  writers  spoke  of  fam- 
ily, church,  and  state  as  the  fundamental  social  units  ; 
for  Comte,  the  individual,  the  family,  and  "  society  "  are 
the  social  organs  ;  and  Spencer  would  classify  social  activ- 
ities and  institutions  according  to  the  three  "systems  of 
organs"  found  in  the  higher  animals.  Frequently  such 
classifications  have  involved  the  logical  error  of  division 
according  to  more  than  one  principle  ;  but,  apart  from 
logical  blunders,  students  of  society  have  conspicuously 

135 


136  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

failed  to  agree  on  any  one  classification,  and  the  failure  (to 
agree  on  some  common  foundation)  has  proved  almost  fatal 
to  any  real  progress  in  the  science. 

The  Genetic  Principle  of  Classification. — The  scientific 
value  of  a  true  classification  lies  not  so  much  in  its  con- 
venience, or  in  its  function  as  the  basis  of  any  successful 
union  among  students — important  though  these  undoubt- 
edly are — as  in  the  fact  that  it  represents  in  itself  the 
fundamental  relations  of  the  phenomena  under  consider- 
ation. Almost  any  sort  of  classification  serves  the  former 
purposes  to  some  extent,  but  the  theory  of  evolution  has 
wrought  a  great  change  in  the  logic  of  natural  science,  by 
demonstrating  that  there  is  one  really  natural  method  of 
classification.  If  organisms  of  different  species  have 
sprung  from  one  common  stock,  the  genetic  relation  be- 
tween them,  wherever  it  can  be  discovered,  determines  the 
true,  the  natural  classification.  The  evolution  of  social 
activities  and  social  institutions  bears  some  resemblance  to 
the  evolution  of  organisms ;  and  if  complex  social  phe- 
nomena can  be  traced  back  to  a  few  simple  sources,  it  will 
give  the  key  to  the  genetic  classification  which  a  science 
seeks.1 

In  the  last  chapter  it  was  shown  that  man's  needs  and 
emotions  were  the  causes  of  social  activity,  and  that  these 
stimuli  to  social  life  were  comparatively  simple  and  easily 
classified.  Following  this  clew,  we  can  give  without  hesi- 
tation the  classification  of  social  activities  according  to  the 
stimuli  from  which  they  spring,  in  the  following  four 
groups  :  (1)  Economic,  (2)  "  Social  "  (including  domes- 
tic), (3)  Political  (and  legal),  (4)  Psychical.  Social  groups 
arise  in  the  performance  of  definite  social  activities,  and 
the  most  important  bond  of  union  consists  of  their  com- 
mon function  (Chap.  IV.),  consequently  the  principle  for 
the  classification  of  social  activities  is  at  the  same  time  the 

1  I  have  discussed  the  question  of  the  classification  of  social  phe- 
nomena more  fully  in  an  article  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra  for  January, 
1896. 


THE   MODES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  137 

principle  for  the  classification  of  social  groups.  And  social 
institutions,  as  I  hope  to  show  in  the  present  and  the  fol- 
lowing chapters,  are  in  reality  habits  of  some  phase  of  social 
activity ;  their  influence  extends  far  beyond  the  activi- 
ties in  which  they  arise,  but  they  are  classified  according 
to  the  same  principle  as  the  forms  of  social  activity.  Fi- 
nally, the  complex  forms  of  social  activity  can  more  easily 
be  reduced  to  the  simple  forms  from  which  they  are  de- 
rived, when  the  student  is  guided  by  the  principle  that  has 
just  been  stated.  In  this  way  we  can  hope  to  reach  a  classi- 
fication of  social  phenomena  that  is  final  (for  the  present 
state  of  our  knowledge),  a  classification  that  will  prove  the 
basis  for  common  study  of  social  life  and  the  starting-point 
for  a  more  complete  understanding  of  social  life. 

I.   THE  ECONOMIC  MODE  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY 

The  fundamental  mode  of  social  activity  is  the  economic 
or  industrial.  The  need  of  food,  which  man  shares  with 
the  animal ;  the  need  of  protection  against  cold  and  wet, 
on  which  life  itself  depends  ;  and  all  the  various  modifica- 
tions of  these  simple  needs,  which  were  considered  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  are  the  sources  of  this  activity.  It  is  as 
universal  as  are  the  simple  needs  of  human  nature,  though 
its  influence  on  other  forms  of  social  life  is  no  doubt  very 
different  in  crabbed  northern  climates  from  what  it  is  in 
prolific  lands  near  the  equator.  In  the  lowest  forms  of 
society  which  we  can  conceive — if  indeed  we  can  call  them 
societies — these  needs  cannot  lead  to  any  definite  and  last- 
ing social  activity.  They  are  indeed  present  in  full  power  ; 
but  each  individual  or  social  group  satisfies  them  as  best  it 
may  ;  one  eats  the  food  he  gets,  and  wears  the  skins  he  has 
prepared,  but  the  economic  form  of  social  life  hardly  exists 
as  yet.  There  is  no  value,  for  exchange  has  not  begun  ; 
no  wealth,  for  there  is  no  motive  to  collect  food  or  furs 
beyond  what  are  necessary  for  the  immediate  future  ;  true 
social  life,  really  human  life,  exists  only  in  germ. 


138  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

When  circulation  intervenes  between  the  production  of 
what  satisfies  want,  and  its  immediate  consumption,  it  is 
possible  to  speak  of  a  true  economic  activity  of  society. 
The  simple  bond  of  exchange  unites  men,  at  first  rarely 
and  for  a  brief  moment,  then  more  regularly  and  more  per- 
manently, in  a  common  activity  for  the  satisfaction  of 
economic  needs.  The  stimulus  still  acts  on  individuals, 
but  it  leads  them  to  work  together,  till  all  that  each  one 
does  must  be  considered  from  the  social  standpoint  as  part 
of  the  industrial  activity  of  society.  The  needs  are  still 
universal,  and  the  resulting  social  activity  affects  the  whole 
of  society.  No  one  escapes  from  it,  for  no  one  is  free  from 
the  need  of  food  and  clothing ;  no  one  can  really  isolate 
himself  from  the  social  activity  that  meets  these  needs,  for 
the  industrial  activity  of  a  society  is  modified  by  the  atti- 
tude of  each  individual  toward  it.  The  social  activity  re- 
sulting from  economic  needs,  then,  is  coextensive  with  so- 
ciety, and  every  individual  has  his  place  in  the  economic 
or  industrial  life  of  some  society. 

Three  Phases  of  Economic  Activity.  —  The  economic 
mode  of  social  activity  develops  simultaneously  in  three 
phases,  which  are  commonly  known  as  production,  circu- 
lation, and  consumption.  The  special  science  dealing  with 
economic  phenomena  naturally  considers  these  phases  in 
the  above  order.  It  studies  the  production  of  goods,  and 
traces  them  from  their  economic  origin  to  their  economic 
end. 

The  science  of  society  is  concerned  not  with  goods  but 
with  persons,  so  that  it  treats  the  subject  in  a  different  order. 
In  the  history  of  culture  wealth  begins  with  exchange,  not 
with  production ;  it  is  the  circulation  of  commodities  which 
first  unites  individuals  or  groups  in  a  common  activity  that 
deserves  the  name  economic.  For  sociology  circulation  is 
the  fundamental  fact ;  consumption,  or  the  working  of  the 
economic  motives,  the  second  fact  to  be  considered  ;  chron- 
ologically as  well  as  logically,  production  is  to  be  considered 
last. 


THE   MODES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  139 

(a)  Circulation. — Circulation  is  based  on  the  fact  that 
men  are  different ;  different  in  their  nature  and  capacities, 
and  different  in  their  surroundings.     The  needs  of  any  one 
are  more  easily  met  when  several  unite,  each  to  supply  what 
he  is  best  able,  of  what  is  required.    Historically  the  supply 
of  such  a  mineral  as  salt,  or  the  possession  of  a  good  fish- 
ing-ground, or  some  other  abundant  source  of  food,  com- 
monly furnished  the  motive  to  meet  the  want  of  other 
things  by  exchange.     So  soon  as  society  was  stable  enough 
to  permit  the  development  of  further  differences  in  skill, 
the  range  of  exchange  was  much  widened.     Exchange,  the 
circulation  of  goods,  determines  the  limits  of  an  economic 
society,  and  the  structure  of  any  economic  group  is  mainly 
due  to  this  phase  of  its  common  activity. 

(b)  Consumption. — The  second  phase  of  economic  activ- 
ity is  ordinarily  called  " consumption."    The  "consump- 
tion of  goods "  means  for  the  economist  the  obtaining  of 
goods  from  a  market,  and  the  devoting  of  them  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  want  or  desire  which  they  were  intended 
to  satisfy.     The  importance  of  this  branch  of  economics  to 
the  sociologist  is  due  to  the  fact  that  here  is  the  point 
where  the  economic  stimuli  find  their  application  in  pro- 
ducing economic  activity.     Economically  it  is  the  "  desire 
to  consume  "  that  leads  men  to  exchange  what  they  possess, 
to  produce  for  the  purpose  of  exchange,  and  thus  to  obtain 
what  they  need.     The  study  of  the  needs  men  feel,  and  the 
degree  to  which  they  feel  them,  is  the  direct  key  to  an  un- 
derstanding of  the  particular  forms  of  economic  activity. 

(c)  Production. — Thirdly,   economic  activity  is  to   be 
studied  from  the  stand-point  of  production.     Production 
for  a  market  is  the  direct  result  of  the  utility  of  exchange; 
men  undertake  to  meet  a  market  demand  when  that  is  the 
surest  way  of  meeting  their  own  needs.     The  possibility  of 
the  development  of  exchange,  and  of  economic  consump- 
tion, lies  just  here;  as  production  for  a  market  develops 
and  controls  industrial  life,  circulation  increases  its  range, 
and  economic  solidarity  results  from  the  increasing  depen- 


140  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

dence  of  each  individual  on  the  society  in  which  he  lives 
his  industrial  life.  The  production  of  the  goods  men  use 
is  so  much  more  of  an  affair  than  the  exchange  of  goods  or 
their  consumption,  that  naturally  the  organization  of  so- 
ciety for  production,  the  so-called  industrial  organization 
in  the  stricter  sense  of  the  term,  sets  its  mark  on  all  eco- 
nomic activity,  and  indeed  on  all  the  life  of  society. 

Economic  Groups  and  Institutions. — The  three  phases 
of  economic  activity  must  be  considered  in  another  chapter 
more  in  detail,  in  order  to  understand  their  development 
and  their  social  importance.  At  this  point  I  desire  to  em- 
phasize the  fact  that  the  economic  activity  of  society 
caused  by  these  stimuli  embraces  all  of  society,  because 
the  needs  in  question  exist  for  every  individual.  Economic 
activity  appears  in  three  phases,  and  in  each  phase  par- 
ticular groups  are  formed  to  perform  particular  functions 
— in  each  phase_sj3e.c,ial--4«fi&tu  fcion*  arisg  _tq  jnget  special 
ends.  The  economic  group,  like  other  social  groups,  is 
to  be  understood  only  from  the  stand-point  of  its  func- 
tion in  the  universal  economic  life  of  a  society.  The  eco- 
nomic  institution  is  in  reality  a  habit  of  economic  activity, 
and  it  accomplishes  even  more  in  facilitating  and  extend- 
ing this  activity  than  do  the  habits  of  the  individual  man 
in  increasing  his  power  to  accomplish  what  he  desires. 

Economic  Activity  and  other  Forms  of  Social  Life. — 
The  economic  life  of  society  proceeds  from  a  few  definite 
sources,  and  continues  to  depend  on  springs  of  activity 
that  are  not  difficult  to  analyze.  It  can  be  studied  by  it- 
self, as  is  proved  by  the  existence  of  a  science  of  economics. 
And  yet  it  does  not  exist  by  itself ;  it  is  so  closely  inter- 
linked with  the  "  social "  and  domestic  organization  of  so- 
ciety, that  neither  the  "social"  nor  the  economic  organi- 
zation of  society  can  be  truly  explained  when  they  are 
studied  alone.  Political  influences  favor  or  hinder  eco- 
nomic development  ;  the  state  rests  back  on  the  industrial 
life  that  a  people  has  developed.  Psychical  life  arises  as  an 
offshoot  of  the  common  life  by  which  man's  simplest  needs 


THE  MODES  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY  141 

are  met,  and  at  length  supplies  new  motive  and  wiser  di- 
rection to  economic  activity.  In  a  word,  economic  activity 
springs  from  definite  motives,  and  so  it  may  be  studied  by 
itself  ;  but  these  motives  are  so  interlaced  with  a  variety 
of  other  motives  in  the  man  himself,  that  no  one  form  of 
the  activity  in  which  he  engages  can  be  said  to  exist  inde- 
pendently or  can  be  understood  independently. 

II.  THE  "  SOCIAL  "  ACTIVITY  OF  SOCIETY 

The  second  general  stand-point  from  which  the  activity 
of  society  may  be  studied,  deserves  the  name  social  in  a 
special  sense.  All  of  society,  as  we  have  seen,  falls  into 
economic  classes  and  has  an  economic  life  ;  similarly  all  of 
society  falls  into  social  classes,  classes  for  closer  social  inter- 
course, and  such  intercourse  constitutes  its  distinctly  social 
life.  This  social  life  also  has  its  own  peculiar  stimuli, 
namely,  the  emotions  and  interests  which  draw  a  man  to 
one  neighbor,  and  repel  him  from  another.  The  domes- 
tic life  which  results  from  these  emotions  together  with 
the  emotions  associated  with  the  sexual  and  the  parental 
instinct,  is  but  one  form  of  the  general  social  life  of  the 
community.  Commonly,  the  family  life  is  not  directly  in- 
cluded in  what  is  known  as  "  society/'  for  in  the  close 
union  of  home  life,  members  of  the  family  easily  lose  that 
peculiar  stimulus  which  comes  from  the  contact  of  minds 
that  contribute  something  new  and  fresh  to  each  other  in 
conversation.  In  broader  social  intercourse  the  mind  is 
forcibly  lifted  out  of  common  ruts,  and  quickened  by  new 
ideas  and  new  points  of  view  :  the  desire  for  this  new  life 
gives  rise  to  the  distinctly  social  activity  of  society,  and  in 
this  activity  social  groups  are  formed  and  social  institu- 
tions arise. 

The  character  of  "Social"  Groups — While  there  is 
usually  some  likeness  to  begin  with  among  those  who  join 
in  social  intercourse,  their  associated  life  can  but  result  in 
a  growing  assimilation.  The  social  group  is  a  nursery  of 


142  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

common  habits,  and  it  is  these  habits  or  customs  which 
distinguish  the  group  with  increasing  clearness  from  other 
allied  groups.  The  common  customs  constitute  the  char- 
acter of  the  group  ;  they  may  become  the  key  of  admission, 
since  those  who  have  the  habits  which  distinguish  a  par- 
ticular class  are  easily  received  into  the  common  activity 
of  that  class.  Herein  lies  the  value  of  rules  of  etiquette  and 
ceremonial  forms,  for  unless  such  forms  facilitate  social 
intercourse  and  bind  men  together  in  social  classes,  they 
are  worse  than  useless.1  A  more  important  characteristic 
of  these  social  groups  are  the  social  ideals,  ideals  of  polite- 
ness, of  accessibility,  liberality,  and  respect  for  others, 
which  are  developed  in  this  social  intercourse ;  "  noblesse 
oblige."  Of  these  social  groups  the  family  is  the  only  one 
which  has  become  really  definite  and  fixed,  and  to  the 
discussion  of  this  it  is  necessary  to  devote  a  following 
chapter.  The  social  club,  and  all  the  "  associations  "  and 
"  societies "  of  the  present  day,  utilize  the  social  desires, 
but  frequently  their  main  end  is  not  distinctly  social. 
The  classes  in  what  is  generally  known  as  society,  or 
polite  society,  are  the  real  groups  for  "  social "  life ;  and 
the  "  social  scale  "  is  one  name  for  the  social  structure 
of  a  community. 

Custom  the  Fundamental  Type  of  all  Social  Author- 
ity.— The  customs  and  conventions  which  mark  the  social 
group  may  be  described  as  habits  of  activity  in  the  social 
organism.  They  are  a  social  fact,  though  their  point  of 
application  is  the  individual.  The  rise  and  fall  of  custom, 
and  the  authority  of  custom,  constitute  the  most  impor- 
tant question  of  social  evolution  ;  it  concerns  the  very 
nature  of  the  group  which  becomes  the  proper  unit  of 
society.  In  developed  society  the  line  is  not  always  sharply 
drawn  between  social  duties  and  excellencies  on  the  one 

1  The  absolute  sway  that  is  often  accorded  to  the  forms  of  politeness, 
etiquette,  and  fashion,  produces  a  tendency  to  revolt  from  them  The 
critic  finds  it  easy  to  show  that  many  of  these  forms  are  artificial  and 
temporary,  nevertheless  a  deeper  study  is  almost  sure  to  discover  that 
they  are  based  on  some  real  need  of  society. 


THE   MODES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  143 

hand,  and  moral  duties  and  ideals  on  the  other.  Keligious 
requirements,  moral  rules,  laws  enforced  by  the  state,  and 
customs  enforced  by  social  sanction,  have  sprung  from  the 
same  root ;  the  differentiation  of  these  requirements  and 
their  respective  sanctions  has  not  been  fully  accomplished 
even  yet.  The  character  of  social  life,  and  the  material  or 
content  of  custom,  are  undoubtedly  determined  by  the  de- 
gree of  civilization.  Social  life  may,  perhaps,  begin  as  a 
mere  animal  gregariousness  ;  with  the  reign  of  physical 
force,  a  rude  political  character  may  distinguish  social  life  ; 
where  economic  interests  are  foremost,  social  intercourse 
will  bear  an  industrial  stamp  ;  the  school  and  the  press 
mean  that  social  intercourse  has  risen  to  the  intellectual 
plane,  and  the  church,  that  such  intercourse  may  rise  to 
the  religious  plane. 

Relation  of  "Social"  Activity  to  other  Forms  of 
Social  Life. — The  relation  of  the  distinctly  social  activity 
of  the  community  to  its  psychical  life  is  clear  from  the 
preceding  paragraph  ;  the  intellectual,  and  the  moral,  and 
the  religious  life  of  a  community  are  largely  specializations 
of  this  social  life.  Accordingly,  where  a  genuine  social 
life  is  vigorous  and  intense,  conditions  favor  the  develop- 
ment of  the  psychical  life.  In  like  manner,  this  social 
activity  lies  at  the  basis  of  political  activity.  The  race, 
i.e.,  those  who  regard  themselves  as  related  to  each  other 
by  reason  of  their  common  language,  common  customs, 
etc. ,  is  a  social  development ;  and  the  nation  always  tends 
to  become  coincident  with  the  race.  The  rules  enforced 
by  the  power  of  the  state  are  not  different  in  kind,  and 
often  they  do  not  differ  in  origin,  from  the  rules  of  custom 
which  "  society "  enforces  by  its  own  peculiar  sanction. 
Social  activity  is  as  universal  and  as  fundamental  as  eco- 
nomic activity.  Association  in  industrial  pursuits  both 
|  presupposes  the  faculty  of  association,  and  largely  assists 
tin  developing  this  faculty.  Social  customs  are  a  great 
I  bulwark  of  industry  to  render  the  industrial  world  stable  ; 
I  social  classes  and  industrial  classes  so  far  correspond,  that 


144  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

the  two  relations  work  together  in  harmony  to  produce  a 
fuller  and  richer  common  life  within  the  group. 

III.  POLITICAL  ACTIVITY  OF  SOCIETY 

The  third  form  of  social  activity,  according  to  the  above 
classification,  is  the  political.  The  stimulus  to  which  this 
form  of  activity  is  due,  is  the  fear  of  hostile  powers  which 
accompanies  a  man's  need  of  protection.  This  stimulus  has 
assumed  a  double  form.  It  includes  first  the  need  of  pro- 
tection for  the  political  group  as  a  whole,  and  leads  to  the 
organization  of  society  in  such  wise  as  to  protect  the  tribe 
or  the  state  from  incursion  or  attack  by  other  political 
groups.  It  includes  also  the  need  of  protection  within  the 
tribe  itself,  and  this  leads  to  the  recognition  of  such  indi- 
vidual rights,  and  the  development  of  such  restraining 
laws,  as  best  conduce  to  the  unity  and  strength  of  the 
whole  body.  Accordingly,  the  political  activity  of  society 
is  the  constant  readjustment  of  the  government  to  new 
internal  conditions,  and  the  adjustment  of  the  state's  mili- 
tary and  diplomatic  service  to  new  external  conditions. 
The  various  and  complex  forms  which  this  activity  as- 
sumes, centre  in  one  all-embracing  institution,  the  state. 
This  topic  is  so  important  that  the  discussion  of  it  is  de- 
ferred to  a  separate  chapter ;  and,  inasmuch  as  political 
activity  and  political  structure  really  form  one  subject, 
they  will  be  discussed  together.  At  this  point  it  only  re- 
mains to  speak  of  the  relation  of  the  political  activity  of 
society  to  the  other  forms  of  social  activity. 

Political  Life  and  Other  Modes  of  Social  Activity. — 
In  a  sense,  the  political  life  of  a  society  may  be  regarded  as 
the  outcome  of  all  the  various  forms  of  social  activity,  and 
the  focus  in  which  they  meet.  The  nation  has  often  seemed 
the  most  perfect  social  unit,  and  sociology  has  been  de- 
scribed as  a  political  science,  or  even  as  the  political  sci- 
ence. In  time  past,  the  industrial  market  bas  frequentlj 
coincided  with  the  nation  ;  the  idea  of  humanity  has  beer 


THE  MODES   OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY  145 

limited  by  the  confines  of  the  race  and  the  nation,  so  that 
social  life,  and  all  the  higher  psychical  life,  were  but  phases 
of  the  people's  national  life.  A  state  is  no  longer  coinci- 
dent with  society,  but  industry  continues  to  depend  on  the 
state  for  the  protection  of  those  who  engage  in  it ;  common 
political  interests  are  a  powerful  factor  in  the  social  world  ; 
while  the  protection  of  a  strong  government  is  necessary 
for  the  higher  developments  of  psychical  life,  and  the  type 
of  government  always  reacts  on  the  character  of  the  moral 
and  intellectual  life. 

IV.  PSYCHICAL  ACTIVITY  OF  SOCIETY 

1.  Esthetic. — Finally,  the  activity  of  society  may  be 
studied  as  a  psychical  activity.     The  stimuli  to  which  this 
activity  is  due — aesthetic,  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious 
needs — have  been  described  in  the  preceding  chapter  as  the 
non-essential  or  derived  stimuli.     The  love  of  the  beauti- 
ful and  the  desire  to  enjoy  beautiful  things  produce  the 
aesthetic  activity  of  society,  the  activity  which  arises  in  con- 
nection with  the  production  and  the  appreciation  of  beau- 
tiful things.    It  gives  rise  to  institutions  such  as  the  schools 
of  art,  in  which  a  master's  habits  descend  to  his  pupils  and 
perhaps  open  the  way  for  new  creative  masters  ;  schools  in 
which  lovers  of  beauty  are  trained  to  see  the  beautiful  in 
particular  forms  and  under  particular  conditions.     These 
institutions  are  simply  habitual  ways  in  which  the  master 
creates,  and  his  followers  appreciate,  the  expression  of 
beauty.     They  are  social  habits. 

2.  Intellectual  Activity  and  Institutions. — Similarly, 
the  need  of  intellectual  intercourse,  and  the  desire  to  know 
the  truth,  are  the  stimuli  to  the  intellectual  activity  of  so- 
ciety.    This  intellectual  activity  follows  habitual  modes, 
ancUthtts.  gives  rise  to  the  institutions  for  intellectual  inter- 
courseu.jiE]iich  were  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter.     The 
platform  and  the  press  are  such  institutions  for  the  spread " 
of  truth,  while  the  university  is  intended  to  be  an  institu- 


146  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

tion  for  research.  But  the  intellectual  activity  of  society 
is  by  no  means  limited  to  institutions  of  this  sort,  for  it 
enters  as  one  element  into  all  social  intercourse.  Indeed, 
differences  in  the  degree  and  character  of  intellectual  train- 
ing, are  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  differen- 
tiation of  social  classes. 

The  perception  of  beauty  and  the  desire  for  truth  are 
social  facts.  The  truth  that  has  been  attained  and  that 
finds  expression  in  science  and  philosophy,  and  in  art,  does 
not  belong  to  any  one  individual,  but  to  society.  Not  only 
the  desire  to  know  the  truth,  but  the  very  power  to  recog- 
nize what  is  true,  is  developed  in  society  and  is  a  social  pos- 
session. A  Raphael  and  a  Beethoven  perceived  the  beau- 
tiful which  their  ages  sought  to  grasp,  and  brought  it  to 
expression.  Bacon  and  Newton  and  Faraday  had  that  cre- 
ative genius  which  could  formulate  the  scientific  truth  to 
which  their  respective  ages  were  advancing.  The  intellect 
does  indeed  centre  in  the  individual,  but  individuality 
itself  develops  as  a  product  of  the  intellectual  activity  of 
society. 

3.  Moral  Activity  and  Moral  "  Institutions." — The 
psychical  activity  of  society  includes  also  the  moral  life 
which  springs  from  the  need  of  moral  approval  and  moral 
association.  This  moral  life  expresses  itself  first  in  the 
form  of  certain  rules,  which  have  been  differentiated  from 
the  customs  that  mark  the  social  groups.  Custom  is  en- 
forced by  the  group  and  within  the  group,  as  the  distin- 
guishing characteristic  of  this  body.  A  cjjsjfljnjjecomes  a 
moral  rule  when  it  is  regarded  as  universally  binding,  as 
necessary  to  society  as  a  whole,  and  so  enforced  by  society 
as  a  whole.  The  observance  of  this  custom  is  a  duty,  and 
anyone  who  neglects  it  is  condemned  by  society.  It  goes 
without  saying  that  this  transformation  of  custom  into  con- 
scious rule  is  a  gradual  process,  in  which  men  of  fine  sense 
discern  the  right  before  their  fellows,  and  can  but  slowly 
extend  and  purify  the  rules  of  right  action.  T.his  process 
is  the  slowly  developing  moral  life  of  society,  and 


THE   MODES   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  147 

stitntions  "  whfcfirarise  in-  connection  with  it  are  known  as 
duties.  The  moral  life  expresses  itself  also  in  moral  ideals. 
Ideals  are  a  social  fact ;  though  they  are  recreated  in  the 
individual  mind,  they  properly  belong  to  the  group  in 
which  the  individual  lives.  Noble  intellects  are  trained 
by  society  to  perceive  the  high  ends  which  give  to  life  its 
meaning,  and  through  them  these  ideals  are  developed  ; 
they  are  produced  in  society,  as  well  as  a  social  possession. 
We  cannot  forget  that  morality  centres  in  the  individual 
and  aims  to  control  his  life ;  nor  should  we  forget  that 
morality  is  a  form  of  social  life,  a  habit  of  the  social 
group. 

4.  Religious  Activity  and  Institutions  in  Society. — Al- 
most universally  in  human  society  men  have  felt  the  need 
of  communion  with  a  god,  and  this  has  led  to  a  religious 
activity  of  society.  Although  in  the  earlier  stages  of 
society  this  psychical  need  is  associated  with  the  physical 
need  of  protection,  the  time  comes  in  the  history  of  re- 
ligion when  new  rules  of  right  and  new  ideals  (closely 
associated  with  moral  rules  and  moral  ideals)  arise  through 
the  introduction  of  a  new  factor,  relation  to  God.  The 
social  nature  of  these  rules  and  ideals  is  evident  from  the 
redistributions  of  society  which  they  have  always  caused. 
The  history  of  religion  discusses  the  institutions  of  sacri- 
fice and  purification,  of  churches  and  priesthoods,  through 
which  this  religious  activity  has  found  expression.  These 
institutions  are  the  particular  forms  assumed  by  this  kind 
of  social  activity  ;  they  are  habits  which  characterize  social 
groups,  and  give  rise  to  social  groups.  Religion  centres  in 
the  individual,  and  stands  for  the  relation  of  an  individual 
to  his  god  ;  but  the  character  of  this  relation  is  determined 
by  society,  and  preserved  in  society.  Neither  religious  re- 
formers nor  students  of  religious  thought  have  failed  to  see 
the  importance  of  religious  fellowship  in  arousing  and  de- 
veloping the  individual's  sense  of  relation  to  God.  The 
religious  life  finds  its  normal  expression  in  the  church  and, 
at  least  in  theory,  no  social  group  is  so  closely  knit  together 


148  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

as  is  the  church  in  its  common  love  and  common  worship 
of  God  ;  nor  does  any  form  of  social  activity  claim  such  a 
comprehensive  authority  over  all  of  life.  Those  who  re- 
duce the  church  to  the  place  of  a  voluntary  association,  fail 
to  see  either  its  religious  or  its  social  meaning.1 

To  avoid  any  misapprehension,  I  may  remind  the  reader  of 
the  definition  of  the  science  of  sociology  ;  as  a  science  sociol- 
ogy studies  processes,  and  explains  the  manner  in  which  forms 
of  psychical  life  arise  in  society,  but  it  is  not  concerned  with 
the  origin  or  ultimate  meaning  of  what  it  explains.  So  it 
studies  religion  and  explains  the  manner  in  which  it  arises, 
but  it  neither  denies  nor  affirms  the  real  existence  of  God. 

Relation  of  Psychical  Activity  to  other  Forms  of  Social 
Activity. — Inasmuch  as  the  true  unity  of  society  is  psy- 
chical rather  than  physical,  it  is  evident  that  all  forms  of 
social  activity  find  their  goal  and  their  true  explanation  in 
the  distinctly  psychical  activity  of  society.  An  industrial 
class  becomes  a  society  only  when  its  members  come  to 
share  the  same  psychical  life  ;  directly,  such  a  development 
of  psychical  bonds  tends  to  make  the  industrial  class  more 
stable,  until  sometimes  its  fixedness  stands  in  the  way  of 
progress ;  indirectly,  the  development  of  these  higher 
forms  of  activity  brings  more  potent  stimuli  to  bear  on  the 
economic  life,  and  lends  to  the  economic  structure  of 
society  that  general  stability  which  gradually  unites  those 
who  share  the  same  type  of  higher  civilization.  And  with 
the  progress  of  civilization,  social  and  political  life  come 
to  feel  the  same  influences.  The  groups  which  are  united 
in  these  forms  of  activity  are  at  length  determined  rather 
by  psychical  differences  than  by  any  external  law ;  the 
social  and  the  political  structure  become  at  the  same  time 

1  The  smaller  religious  groups,  called  sects  or  denominations,  too, 
are  real  social  groups.  Artificial  distinctions  do  exist,  based  on  minor 
and  non-essential  differences  of  interpretation  or  ritual,  but  those  dis- 
tinctions based  on  different  religious  experience  or  on  apprehension  of 
a  different  side  of  truth,  mark  off  groups,  necessarily  separate,  and 
cannot  be  annulled  by  any  council. 


THE  MODES   OF  SOCIAL   ACTIVITY  149 

more  complex  and  more  stable  by  the  growth  of  higher 
bonds  of  union ;  while  the  presence  of  the  highest  ends 
and  the  highest  motives  may  place  the  lower  forms  of 
social  life  on  an  entirely  new  plane. 

Conclusion. — With  reference  to  all  the  modes  of  social 
activity  discussed  in  the  present  chapter,  it  is  important  to 
bear  in  mind  two  points:  (1)  Each  of  these  modes  of  activity 
is  due  to  stimuli  acting  on  the  individual  mind,  and  each 
finds  its  expression  in  individuals ;  and  (2)  they  are  dis- 
tinctly forms  of  social  activity,  in  which  men  are  united 
in  social  groups  or  societies,  while  institutions  are  simply 
social  habits  arising  in  connection  with  these  forms  of 
activity. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  SOCIETY 

Production  the  most  important  of  the  three  Factors  in  determining  In- 
dustrial Organization — Early  Industrial  Life — The  Stone  Age ;  the 
Bronze  and  Iron  Ages — Social  Importance  of  the  Development  of 
Tools— Early  Differentiation  of  Industrial  Functions — Source  of 
Food  as  marking  Stages  in  Development — The  Hunting  Stage, 
the  Nomad  Stage,  and  the  Agricultural  Stage — Influence  of  each 
on  Social  Life — Increase  in  the  Differentiation  of  Labor. 

I.  Exchange  and  the  gradual  Development  of  the  Market.      1.  In- 

stitution of  Money.  2.  Institutions  of  Transportation — War,  and 
the  Development  of  Circulation — Effect  of  Circulation  on  other 
Modes  of  Social  Activity. 

II.  Consumption.     The  "Economic  Man" — Man's  Needs  change  in 
Content,   in   Imperativeness,    and   in  Variety  —  Physical  Needs 
determine  Economic  Life — The  Institution  of  Property — Social 
Importance  of  Property. 

III.  Production.     Relation  to  Circulation,  to  Consumption — The  In- 
stitutions of  Production — Slavery,  Feudalism,  the  Household  Unit, 
the  Factory  System — Influence  of  Industrial  Organization  on  other 
Modes  of  Social  Life. 

The  Ideal  of  the  Economic  Group — Influence  of  this  Ideal  on  Social 
Life — Fundamental  Character  of  the  Economic  Mode  of  Social 
Activity. 

Production  the  most  Important  Factor  in  Determining 
Industrial  Organization. — The  economic  activity  of  society 
has  been  defined  as  the  activity  due  to  man's  fundamental 
physical  needs,  the  need  of  food  and  of  clothing.  Eco- 
nomic life  develops,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  three  phases  of 
circulation,  consumption,  and  production  ;  and  the  dis- 
cussion of  industrial  organization  and  industrial  institu- 
tions naturally  follows  this  threefold  division.  It  is  the 
more  necessary  to  treat  industrial  organization  from  this 

150 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     151 

threefold  stand-point,  for  the  three  phases  of  activity  do 
not  develop  simultaneously,  nor  do  they  have  a  co-ordinate 
influence  on  other  modes  of  social  activity.  In  general, 
the  forms  of  production  are  so  important  as  to  determine 
the  general  character  of  the  industrial  organization.  The 
history  of  labor  is  part  of  the  study  of  production  ;  tools 
and  machinery  are  the  instruments  of  production  ;  the 
stages  of  industrial  development  are  marked  by  the  devel- 
opment of  methods  and  implements  of  production.  At  the 
same  time,  production  can  hardly  be  termed  a  form  of  eco- 
nomic activity  till  circulation  intervenes  and  goods  are 
produced  for  a  market ;  and  the  motive  for  production  is 
always  found  in  the  desire  to  "consume." 

Early  Industrial  Life  of  Man. — The  Stone  Age. — The 
history  of  man's  nascent  industrial  life  has  ordinarily  been 
written  either  as  an  account  of  the  stone,  and  the  bronze, 
and  the  iron  ages — according  to  the  material  of  which  im- 
plements are  made — or  as  an  account  of  the  hunting  and 
fishing  stage,  the  nomad  stage,  and  the  industrial  stage  of 
economic  development — according  to  the  main  source  of 
food.  The  former  may  be  termed  the  archaeological,  the 
latter  the  ethnological,  stand-point  for  the  study  of  primi- 
tive man.  The  earliest  prehistoric  traces  of  man,  found 
in  many  parts  of  the  earth,  are  the  stone  implements  which 
he  used.  The  rude  stone  club,  the  chipped  flint  that  served 
as  spear-head  or  as  knife,  are  to  be  dated  back  to  geologic 
ages,  when  the  climate  and  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  tem- 
perate zone  were  very  different  from  what  they  are  at  pres- 
ent. The  gradual  development  of  the  club  into  the  ham- 
mer, the  hatchet,  and  the  adze  ;  of  the  chipped  flint  into 
the  sharpened  arrow-head,  the  polished  knife,  and  chisel ; 
of  the  hollowed  stone  into  the  bowl,  and  at  length  into  the 
mill  for  grinding  corn  : — the  gradual  development  of  these 
stone  implements  can  be  traced  in  the  fragments  that  have 
come  down  to  us,  and  it  throws  much  light  on  the  dawn- 
ing reason  which  absolutely  separated  man  from  the  other 
animals. 


152  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

The  Bronze  and  Iron  Ages. — The  use  of  metal,  bronze, 
or  iron,  marks  another  distinct  stage  in  the  early  forms  of 
industry.  The  metal  knife  or  sword,  the  metal  hatchet, 
are  far  superior  to  the  best  instruments  of  stone  ;  and  the 
bowl  or  cup  of  beaten  metal  would  come  to  be  always  used, 
were  it  not  for  the  invention  of  pottery  which  partly  took 
the  place  of  metal.  No  sharp  line  separates  the  bronze 
and  the  iron  ages ;  but  when  iron  could  be  smelted  and 
worked  with  reasonable  ease,  the  possibilities  of  metal  tools 
were  much  increased  and  their  cost  diminished. 

Social  Importance  of  Development  of  Tools. — The  social 
importance  of  tools  lies  in  two  directions.  First,  tools  in- 
crease the  range  and  variety,  and  consequently  the  regu- 
larity, of  the  food-supply.  The  use  of  the  bone  fish-hook 
and  of  the  ne4^  means  a  new  source  of  food  ;  the  arrow  from 
a  bow  is  surer  and  swifter  than  the  best  spear  or  lance ; 
fire  gains  much  more  general  use  in  the  preparation  of 
food,  when  water  can  be  boiled  in  pottery  or  metal  vessels. 
Secondly,  tools  enable  man  better  to  secure  himself  against 
attacks  of  hostile  beasts  and  hostile  men.  Almost  every 
tool  is  also  a  weapon  ;  and  the  tool-making,  tool-using 
animal  is  in  the  end  superior  to  the  animal  that  has  itself 
the  greater  strength  or  speed.  It  is  not  so  much  the 
security  of  the  individual,  as  the  security  of  small  societies, 
that  is  gained  by  the  use  of  better  weapons.  The  small 
group  secures  a  measure  of  permanence  by  its  ability  to 
defend  itself  against  the  world,  and  the  foundations  of 
political  and  industrial  society  are  laid. 

Early  Differentiation  of  Industrial  Functions.  —  The 
development  of  tools  has  this  further  effect  on  the  begin- 
nings of  industrial  organization,  that  it  encourages  the 
differentiation  of  industrial  activity.  The  original  differ- 
ence between  the  sexes  has  always  remained  the  basis  of 
social  differentiation  ;  but  even  this  difference  was  made 
more  marked  by  tools  which  busied  the  husband  abroad, 
or  gave  wider  range  to  what  the  wife  should  do  at  home. 
Again,  not  every  man  could  make  tools  that  required  skill, 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     153 

and  some  would  use  one  implement  better  than  another. 
At  length  the  small  group  of  tool-users,  the  tribe  or  the 
village  unit,  would  be  a  more  compact  unit  because  the 
different  members  depended  on  each  other  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  common  economic  needs. 

Source  of  Food  marks  Stages  in  Development.  —  The 
ethnologist  is  wont  to  view  early  economic  history  in  a 
slightly  different  light.  He  finds  the  more  backward  races 
of  mankind  depending  on  different  sources  of  food.  Some 
depend  for  food  on  game,  others  on  their  flocks  and  herds, 
others  still  on  their  yearly  crops.  Agriculture  surely 
implies  a  higher  social  life  than  is  ordinarily  found  among 
hunting  or  nomad  peoples,  and  the  custom  has  arisen  of 
referring  to  the  three  means  of  satisfying  economic  needs 
as  three  stages  of  economic  development.  The  view  is  only 
in  part  correct,  but  it  suggests  the  very  great  importance 
of  the  source  of  food  (and  clothing)  in  determining  the 
industrial  organization  of  a  society. 

1.  The  Hunting  Stage. — In  different  parts  of  the  Amer- 
ican continent  are  found  tribes  that  depend  mainly  on 
game  for  food,  all  the  way  from  the  lowest  savagery  up 
to  the  very  verge  of  civilization.  The  effect  on  social  life 
of  this  mode  of  subsistence  varies,  of  course,  with  the 
abundance  and  regularity  of  the  supply  of  game,  but  in 
general  it  produces  societies  of  much  the  same  type.  The 
size  of  the  group  is  necessarily  limited,  except  where  waters 
bring  large  shoals  of  fish  within  easy  reach.  Ordinarily, 
only  a  very  scanty  population  could  be  supported  ;  and  in 
cases  where  a  tribe  became  large,  it  all  but  fell  apart  of 
itself  as  its  members  travelled  far  in  search  of  food.  And 
these  economic  conditions  did  not  especially  favor  the  in- 
tercourse of  different  tribes,  for  the  presence  of  the  hunter 
in  the  domain  of  another  tribe  inevitably  suggests  trespass. 
Again,  this  form  of  "industry  "  favored  strongly  an  unset- 
tled life.  A  fixed  village  was  possible,  and  even  common 
in  some  parts  of  the  western  half  of  the  continent,  but 
more  commonly  the  so-called  Indian  village  was  a  sort  of 


154  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

rendezvous  where  they  settled  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  In  consequence  of  the  roving  life,  the  basis  of  the 
state  was  simply  and  only  the  ties  of  blood  and  custom, 
and  the  higher  forms  of  social  life  had  little  or  no  oppor- 
tunity of  development  The  manner  of  life  of  the  success- 
ful hunter  encouraged  the  virtues  and  excellencies  of  the 
individual.  His  own  power  to  read  nature  and  understand 
animals,  his  own  cunning  in  outwitting  them,  his  own  en- 
durance in  their  pursuit,  these  made  the  hunter  an  inde- 
pendent man  by  nature.  Independence  and  individuality, 
thus  developed,  affected  the  whole  range  of  social  life,  and 
made  the  state  entirely  democratic  in  its  character. 

2.  The  Nomad  Stage. — On  the  American  continent  ex- 
amples of  nomad  life  are  rare,  because  there  were  so  few 
animals  suited  for  domestication.  But  in  Asia  and  in  many 
parts  of  Africa,  not  only  the  dog  and  the  hen,  but  soon  cat- 
tle and  goats  and  sheep  were  domesticated,  and  furnished 
man  with  a  far  more  abundant  and  more  regular  supply  of 
food  than  could  be  secured  by  hunting.  The  Hebrew  ac- 
counts of  shepherds  in  Palestine  perhaps  furnish  the  most 
familiar  picture  of  the  nomad  life.  Used  for  keeping 
flocks,  the  same  area  produced  much  more  food  for  man 
than  when  used  for  hunting,  so  that  the  population  of 
nomad  races  became  correspondingly  denser  than  in  the 
case  of  races  living  on  game  alone.  This  mode  of  life  did 
not  favor  the  individualism  of  the  hunter's  life,  for  no  one 
man  could  keep  cattle  alone  to  good  advantage.  Groups 
of  moderate  size,  which  could  care  for  their  common  herds 
and  protect  them  together,  were  naturally  best  suited  to 
this  kind  of  life.  So  we  find  now  the  small  clan,  now  the 
large  family,  living  on  the  products  of  the  herd  that  they 
owned  and  kept  in  common.  The  necessity  of  protection 
for  property  demanded  a  much  more  highly  developed 
political  life  ;  and  as  different  clans  lived  in  closer  prox- 
imity, the  intercourse  between  them  would  commonly  be 
more  active.  Before  the  cultivation  of  grass  as  a  crop, 
however,  the  life  of  nomad  peoples  was  unsettled,  since 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF  SOCIETY     155 

they  must  wander  in  search  of  food  for  their  herds  ;  so  that, 
in  spite  of  the  more  developed  social  life,  the  same  obstacle 
to  a  high  development  of  culture  continued  to  exist. 

3.  The  Agricultural  Stage. — Returning  again  to  North 
America,  we  find  that  tobacco  and  "  Indian  corn  "  were 
widely  cultivated  by  tribes  that  still  depended  largely  on 
game  for  food,  while  in  Africa  and  Asia  both  hunting  and 
nomad  races  turned  to  agriculture  for  a  better  supply  of 
food.  Cattle  could  be  maintained  better,  and  in  larger 
numbers,  when  the  natural  supply  of  grass  was  increased 
by  artificial  care.  The  cereals  were  stored  for  long  periods 
more  easily  than  any  other  form  of  food,  and  thus  they 
served  to  tide  over  times  when  otherwise  famine  would 
prevail.  Moreover,  agriculture  permitted  a  far  denser  pop- 
ulation than  could  have  been  maintained  before,  and  people 
could  live  in  closer  quarters.  Agriculture  generally  de- 
serves to  be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  civilization.  It 
required  a  settled  life,  and  permitted  life  in  considerable 
towns  ;  it  required  such  political  life  as  would  grant  ample 
protection  to  large  areas  of  crops  in  the  fields  ;  it  was  most 
successful  when  such  social  differentiation  existed  as  per- 
mitted the  utilization  of  slave  labor  to  prosecute  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  with  regularity  and  persistence.  In  a  word, 
civilized  life  was  necessary  for  the  pursuit  of  agriculture, 
and  it  furnished  strong  motives  to  higher  civilization. 

Increase  in  the  Differentiation  of  Labor. — The  most 
marked  feature  of  the  change  from  the  hunting  stage  and 
the  nomad  stage  to  the  agricultural  stage,  is  the  great  in- 
crease in  the  differentiation  of  labor.  In  the  hunting  stage 
all  men  are  theoretically  equal,  though  differences  of  age, 
strength,  and  skill  actually  introduce  some  differences  in 
their  pursuits.  The  nornad  life  encourages  the  formation 
of  small  groups,  in  which  one  person  is  master,  if  not 
owner,  while  others  care  for  the  flocks  and  the  products  of 
the  flocks  under  his  direction.  In  such  a  large  family, 
household,  or  clan,  the  skill  of  one  as  carpenter  or  tent- 
maker,  of  another  in  preparing  the  rude  utensils  of  their 


156  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

simple  life,  of  others  in  other  lines,  would  be  utilized  under 
the  direction  of  the  master,  even  while  all  united  in  the 
regular  business  of  caring  for  the  flocks.  With  the  de- 
velopment of  agriculture,  and  the  consequent  increase  in 
size  of  the  social  group,  the  occasional  differentiation  of 
function  develops  into  a  true  differentiation  of  the  laborers. 
When  agriculture  was  no  longer  a  sporadic  method  of  eking 
out  the  food-supply,  but  the  normal  and  regular  source  of 
food,  the  village  community  arose  as  the  natural  form  of 
social  organization.  These  communities,  which  mark  the 
point  to  which  the  social  life  of  civilized  states  can  be 
traced  back  with  any  assurance,  consisted  of  groups  of 
families  or  clans,  each  of  which  was  organized  much  like 
the  group  of  nomad  life,  though  on  a  smaller  scale.  Each 
family,  or  clan,  cultivated  its  share  of  the  fields  of  the  com- 
munity under  the  direction  of  its  head — but  the  heads  of 
families  were  subject  in  turn  to  the  chief  of  the  village, 
and  oftentimes  further  differences  of  rank  existed.  The 
work  of  the  house  carpenter,  and  the  cartwright,  and  the 
smith,  was  frequently  the  lot  of  particular  individuals,  who 
were  in  part  supported  from  the  fruit  of  the  others'  labor  ; 
and  while  all  the  women  might  spin  and  weave,  such  arts 
as  dyeing  and  special  ornamentation  would  often  be  carried 
on  by  one  or  two  in  behalf  of  the  whole  community.  Some 
men,  loosening  their  connection  with  any  one  community, 
would  engage  in  commerce,  bringing  precious  metals  and 
jewels,  fancy  cloths,  important  minerals  like  salt,  etc., 
from  place  to  place.  Such  seems  to  have  been  the  indus- 
trial organization  of  the  early  community,  which  devel- 
oped into  the  town  or  city  and  the  larger  state. 

I.  EXCHANGE  AND  THE  GRADUAL  DEVELOPMENT  OF 
THE  MARKET 

The  further  study  of  industrial  organization,  industrial 
institutions,  and  their  social  importance,  necessarily  fol- 
lows the  threefold  division  according  to  which  industrial 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     157 

activity  develops.  Beginning,  therefore,  with  the  subject 
of  circulation  or  exchange,  we  recall  the  fact  that  this  is 
really  the  beginning  of  the  particular  form  of  social  activ- 
ity which  deserves  the  name  "  economic/'  It  is  the  idea  of 
exchange,  and  somewhat  regular  exchange,  which  charac- 
terizes economic  activity  as  such.  The  general  type  of  the 
early  merchant  still  exists  in  the  case  of  adventurers  who 
set  forth,  it  may  be,  into  the  wilds  of  Africa  ;  they  provide 
themselves  with  gay  cloths  and  other  products  of  civiliza- 
tion that  please  the  savage,  hold  a  sort  of  market  as  they 
reach  some  savage  tribe,  and  return  at  length  with  the 
stores  of  ivory  and  spices  and  perhaps  slaves  which  they 
have  gained  by  barter.  As  soon  as  visits  of  this  sort  come 
to  be  expected  with  any  regularity,  so  that  the  savage  pre- 
pares a  stock  of  goods  for  the  trader,  genuine  economic 
activity  has  begun  on  the  basis  of  an  occasional  market. 
The  next  step  toward  a  higher  development  of  exchange 
is  when  a  market,  or  fair,  is  held  regularly  at  some  definite 
place  to  which  both  buyers  and  sellers  come.  The  Church 
feasts  of  the  Middle  Ages  furnished  such  regular  occasions 
for  exchange,  and  gave  the  name  "  Messe  "  to  the  fairs  that 
originated  at  times  when  mass  was  celebrated.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  great  annual  fairs,  at  which  all  wholesale  and 
most  of  the  retail  trade  was  conducted,  has  hardly  disap- 
peared in  England,  and  is  still  very  important  on  the  con- 
tinent. Gradually  the  advantage  of  regular  posts  of  trade, 
open  and  accessible  at  all  times,  has  been  recognized  ;  and 
the  "  shop  "  or  "  store  "  has  taken  the  place  of  recurring 
markets  as  the  ordinary  method  of  exchange.  For  soci- 
ology, the  important  facts  with  reference  to  exchange  are 
(1)  that  the  progress  of  trade  by  the  tentative  but  persist- 
ent efforts  of  individuals  is  an  example  of  the  method  of 
development  found  in  any  line  of  social  activity  ;  and  (2) 
that  the  simple  physical  needs  of  the  individual  have  ex- 
ercised a  most  potent  influence  in  opening  avenues  for  the 
higher  forms  of  social  life,  and  in  bringing  different  social 
groups  into  contact  with  each  other. 


158  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

1.  The  Institution  of  Money. — In  the  process  of  ex- 
change, two  institutions  arise  which  are  very  important 
objects  of  study  for  the  science  which  deals  with  economic 
phenomena  in  detail.     The  first  of  these  is  the  institution 
of  money.     Exchange  is  immensely  facilitated  by  the  use 
of  some  recognized  standard  of  value.     What  the  standard 
is,  of  course  depends  largely  on  the  relative  convenience 
of  the  different  possible  objects ;  but  it  takes  its  place  as 
the  standard  of  value  by  a  sort  of  social  agreement.      It  is 
money  when  it  is  recognized  and  received  as  money.  When 
a  good  standard  of  value  comes  into  use,  the  sphere  of  ex- 
change is  indefinitely  extended  ;  parties  more  distant  from 
each  other  can  enter  into  commercial  relations ;  and  the 
goods  exchanged  need  not  be  limited  by  the  present  wants 
of  the  parties.     In  fact  the  standard  of  value  of  civilization 
penetrates  into  the  distant  parts  of  the  earth  almost  as 
soon  as  rum  itself.     The  effect  of  this  unity  of  the  com- 
mercial world  upon  the  higher  forms  of  social  life  can 
hardly  be  estimated.     Identity  of  ideas  and  of  tastes  is 
preceded  by  identity  of  money.     Moreover  the  student  of 
sociology  should  not  forget  that  it  is  the  social  stamp,  the 
general  approval  of  society,  which  is  the  final  source  of 
validity,  whatever  be  the  material  of  money  or  the  power 
which  issues  it. 

2.  Institutions  of  Transportation. — The  second  class  of 
institutions  arising  in  the  process  of  exchange  have  to  do 
with  transportation.     The  amount  of  goods  exchanged  at 
any  given  times,  and  the  possible   range  of  a  market, 
depend  on  the  facility  with  which  goods  are  transported. 
According  to  Proudhon,  "to  draw  a  loaded  cart  on  the 
natural  soil  requires  one-quarter  or  one-fifth  the  energy 
necessary  to  carry  the  weight  in  question  ;  on  good  roads 
in  ordinary  condition,  only  .08  of  this  amount  of  energy  is 
necessary ;    on  oak  rails  the  figure  is  reduced  to  .  022 ; 
finally,  on  steel  rails  in  good  condition  it  is  only  .005  or 
.003  of  the  original  amount ;     .     .     .     the  increase  in  dis- 
tance carried,  in  rapidity  and  regularity  of  transportation, 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     159 

can  hardly  be  estimated."  Along  with  this  apparatus  for 
the  transportation  of  merchandise,  there  has  grown  up  an 
apparatus  for  the  rapid  transportation  of  intelligence, 
which  is  hardly  less  important  in  its  effect  on  commerce. 
The  post,  which  was  originally  a  military  affair,  has  come 
to  serve  primarily  an  economic  purpose.  The  condition  of 
any  important  market  is  made  known  all  over  the  globe  as 
quickly  as  in  distant  parts  of  the  same  city,  and  the  Lon- 
don buyer  does  not  have  any  considerable  advantage  in 
time  over  the  New  York  buyer,  when  goods  are  offered  for 
sale  in  London.  Finally,  the  institutions  for  the  trans- 
portation of  money  have  kept  pace  with  the  means  of  trans- 
mitting intelligence.  Orders  on  private  or  government 
banks,  which  are  received  as  readily  as  gold,  are  trans- 
mitted by  mail  or  by  telegraph,  and  the  process  of  circula- 
tion is  complete.  For  the  purposes  of  business,  space  and 
time  are  all  but  annihilated,  and  the  world  is  made  in 
reality  a  single  market.  All  these  means  of  transportation 
depend  on  an  increasingly  stable  society,  and  react  on 
society  to  make  it  stable  ;  they  develop  a  community  of  in- 
terest, and  a  breadth  of  interest,  which  otherwise  would  be 
impossible. 

War  and  the  Development  of  Circulation. — War  has  been 
the  most  important  external  factor  in  the  origin  and  devel- 
opment of  circulation,  and  this  influence  has  been  exerted 
in  two  ways.  In  the  first  place  the  earliest  collections  of 
goods  to  be  distributed,  or  exchanged,  consisted  of  the 
booty  which  a  successful  band  of  marauders  brought  home 
with  them.  Military  leaders  and  their  followers  would 
desire  to  exchange  the  products  of  war,  such  as  slaves, 
for  the  products  of  peace.  And  secondly  war  brought  dif- 
ferent tribes  of  people  into  contact  with  each  other,  and 
opened  highways  of  communication  between  them.  The 
world  is  enlarged,  and  men  learn  that  their  wants  and  the 
wants  of  their  neighbors  can  be  met  most  easily  by  ex- 
change. For  a  strong  man,  to  take  a  thing  may  seem  the 
easiest  way  to  get  it ;  but  the  first  and  perhaps  the  longest 


1(50  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

step  in  progress,  is  the  recognition  that  this  course  is  de- 
structive, while  fair  interchange  of  goods  benefits  all  the 
parties  concerned.  Violence  breaks  a  path  for  progress, 
and  commerce  follows  in  the  track  of  war. 

Effect  of  Circulation  on  Other  Modes  of  Social  Activity. 
— The  first  and  most  important  effect  of  circulation,  or  the 
exchange  of  commodities,  on  the  other  modes  of  social 
activity,  is  the  well-known  fact  that  the  circulation  of 
goods  always  favors  the  interaction  of  minds.  Intellectual 
intercourse  in  its  various  forms  follows  commercial  inter- 
course, so  that  the  development  of  commerce  is  the  im- 
mediate precursor  of  progress.  In  the  settlement  of  a  new 
country,  the  school  and  the  church  and  the  court  follow 
the  pioneers  of  trade.  In  an  older  country  the  lack  of 
good  means  of  communication  results  in  stagnation;  custom 
continues  without  change,  and  the  past  becomes  a  barrier 
to  progress  instead  of  the  basis  of  advance.1  The  second 
effect  of  a  widening  commerce  on  other  forms  of  social  life, 
is  the  enlargement  of  the  social  world  along  other  lines 
than  the  purely  commercial.  The  "  world  "  in  which  we 
live,  the  social  lines  which  bound  that  part  of  the  race  to 
which  we  feel  akin,  the  psychical  life  of  which  we  feel 
ourselves  an  integral  part,  the  political  world  in  which 
our  state  has  its  proper  sphere  of  activity,  all  of  these  are 
enlarged  with  the  enlargement  of  the  commercial  world. 
Civilization  follows  commerce  into  the  jungles,  through  the 
desert,  and  toward  the  poles.  Civilization  will  touch  every 
part  of  the  globe  when  trade  has  opened  the  way  for  it. 
And  the  third  effect  of  commerce,  with  its  complex  bonds 
now  uniting  the  whole  world,  is  to  develop  closer  and  more 
complex  bonds  in  all  other  forms  of  social  activity.  Eco- 

1  De  Greef,  Sociologie,  II.  p.  41,  has  drawn  an  instructive  comparison 
between  the  New  Greece  on  the  one  hand,  and  Roumania  to-day  or 
Greece  a  century  ago  on  the  other.  The  new  political  life  of  Greece 
has  gone  hand  in  hand  with  a  new  economic  life ;  the  means  of  more 
rapid  transportation  within  Greece,  and  increased  facilities  for  foreign 
commerce,  constitute  the  basis  of  that  progress  which  has  been  so  re- 
markable. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     161 

nomic  activity  could  never  have  attained  its  present  high 
development  without  the  aid  of  political  protection,  ju- 
dicial arbitration,  and  the  special  restraints,  as  well  as  the 
special  stimuli,  of  the  moral  code.  Conversely,  social 
rank  depends  on  economic  conditions;  the  state  is  made 
stable  and  conservative,  as  well  as  progressive,  by  the  eco- 
nomic interests  which  lie  at  its  foundation  ;  the  intellect- 
ual and  the  moral  unity  of  society  is  a  gradual  achieve- 
ment, for  which  the  bonds  of  common  economic  function 
ever  prepare  the  way.  Men  trade  together  and  learn  that 
they  are  brothers,  just  as  once  they  fought  together  and 
found  that  there  existed  other  beings  than  themselves  who 
deserved  respect. 

II.  CONSUMPTION — THE  "  ECONOMIC  MAN  " 

The  second  stand-point  from  which  the  economic  activity 
of  society  may  be  considered,  is  also  marked  by  some 
measure  of  special  organization,  and  by  an  institution  of 
far-reaching  importance.  Here,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the 
point  where  economic  stimuli  find  their  direct  application; 
men  produce  that  they  may  exchange  their  products  for 
what  they  desire  to  "consume";  in  other  words,  the  gen- 
eralized expression  for  the  economic  motive  is  the  desire 
to  consume.  The  familiar  method  of  the  older  political 
economy  was  to  postulate  an  "economic  man,"  a  man 
ruled  by  the  desire  for  wealth.  Undoubtedly,  this  last  ex- 
pression has  meant  the  desire  for  what  wealth  brings, 
not  simply  love  of  money ;  in  other  words,  economics 
has  started  out  with  the  important  postulate  that  the 
units  it  is  to  consider  are  governed  by  what  it  terms  a 
desire  to  "  consume."  Such  mathematical  abstraction  has 
brought  with  it  both  clearness  and  confusion;  clearness  in 
that  the  motive  force  of  economic  life  is  reduced  to  a  sin- 
gle unit ;  confusion  in  that  this  unreal  abstraction  has 
often  been  obliged  to  do  duty  for  the  richness  of  concrete 
truth. 


162  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

Man's  Needs  change  in  Content,  in  Imperativeness,  in 
Variety. — In  fact,  the  true  "  economic  man"  is  the  product 
of  his  age;  his  desires  change  as  society  develops;  nor  is 
the  change  unimportant,  for  the  whole  face  of  economic 
life  changes  with  each  change  in  the  units  that  enter  into 
it.  This  economic  man  is  the  being  whose  needs  and 
emotions  were  discussed  in  Chapter  V.,  and  consumption 
is  simply  the  use  of  what  is  acquired  in  exchange  to  satisfy 
his  needs  and  emotions.  The  particular  content  of  man's 
needs  changes  entirely  with  his  habit  of  life.  Uncooked 
flesh  is  followed  by  roast  or  boiled  meat  as  the  hunter's 
diet,  while  the  shepherd  lives  on  the  products  of  the  ani- 
mal—  milk,  butter,  and  cheese;  vegetable  diet  changes 
from  nuts  and  fruits  to  parched  grains  and  cakes  of  crushed 
or  ground  corn.  The  need  which  a  given  man  feels  is  not 
the  need  of  food,  but  rather  the  need  of  the  flesh  or  the 
dish  of  pottage,  by  which  he  has  been  wont  to  satisfy 
hunger;  the  desire  for  this  particular  object  governs  his 
action  in  the  effort  to  acquire  it.  So  the  imperativeness 
of  man's  need  varies  with  the  stage  of  social  development. 
The  savage  goes  for  days  on  a  most  meagre  diet,  and  then 
when  he  has  game  gorges  himself  with  food.  It  is  only 
when  the  torpid  sleep  after  such  a  feast  has  lasted  long  that 
reviving  hunger  drives  him  to  activity  once  more.  But 
the  civilized  man  requires  "three  meals  a  day,"  and  the 
content  of  each  one  is  imperatively  determined  by  his 
social  position.  Nor  is  the  change  in  the  variety  of  his 
needs  any  less  important.  Practically  the  simple  demand 
for  nourishment  and  warmth  has  been  replaced  by  the 
complex  need  for  the  thousand  and  one  things  which  con- 
stitute the  standard  of  living;  a  carriage  may  seem  more 
necessary  than  bread,  sealskin  garments  more  necessary 
than  blankets. 

Physical  Needs  determine  Economic  Life. — The  study 
of  the  particular  forms  which  these  needs  assume,  is  the 
source  of  most  valuable  light  on  the  economic  life  of  a 
given  age.  Such  study  defines  at  once  the  motives  to 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF  SOCIETY     163 

economic  activity,  and  the  lines  which  this  activity  must 
follow.  Here  the  student  learns  to  understand  the  units 
of  economic  life,  and  it  is  on  this  basis  alone  that  he  can 
discover  the  relation  of  the  units  in  the  industrial  organi- 
zation. The  circulation  and  exchange  of  commodities,  in- 
tervening between  the  production  of  goods  and  their  con- 
sumption, follows  man's  immediate  needs,  so  far  as  his 
needs  find  social  recognition.  Production,  too,  is  to  meet 
the  market  demand  for  the  goods  which  men  call  for. 

The  Institution  of  Property. — The  greatest  change  in 
the  use  to  which  men  put  their  products,  occurs  when 
they  begin  to  store  them  for  future  use,  instead  of  apply- 
ing them  to  the  satisfaction  of  immediate  desire.  The  in- 
stitution of  property,  to  which  so  much  fruitful  study  has 
recently  been  devoted,  had  humble  beginnings  and  devel- 
oped but  slowly.  Its  social  origin  is  quite  generally  ad- 
mitted. It  is  probable  that  property  began  with  articles 
worn  about  the  person,  clothing,  amulets,  and  especially 
adornments,  at  a  time  when  even  weapons  and  the  simple 
utensils  of  cooking  were  the  property  of  the  clan  or  group. 
Along  with  the  development  of  the  idea  of  individuality 
came  important  extensions  of  the  idea  of  individual  prop- 
erty. Weapons  and  utensils,  finally  dwelling-places,  flocks 
and  herds,  were  reckoned  by  the  tribe  as  the  property  of 
its  individual  members,  although  the  members  of  a  family 
have  never  lost  all  claim  on  the  possessions  of  the  head  of 
the  family  ;  these  articles  became  individual  property  be- 
cause members  of  society  so  considered  them.  After  a  long 
period  real  estate  also  came  to  be  reckoned  as  the  property 
of  individuals,  though  still  in  a  somewhat  restricted  sense, 
for  the  state  preserves  certain  rights  over  it  territory. 

Social  Importance  of  Property. — The  social  importance 
of  property  is  universally  recognized.  It  means  a  new  form 
of  consumption,  a  new  use  for  wealth — goods  may  be  effec- 
tively stored.  In  connection  with  it  there  arises  a  new  social 
stimulus,  the  love  of  acquisition.  Property  means  power 
over  one's  fellow-men,  and  the  love  of  power  is  constantly 


164  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

acquiring  range  as  an  economic  stimulus,  while  apparently 
it  loses  power  as  a  political  stimulus.  When  the  idea  of 
property  centred  in  the  clan,  it  helped  to  make  the  clan 
a  compact  unit.  The  gradual  recognition  of  individual 
property  was  a  great  power  in  developing  the  nascent  indi- 
vidualism of  the  members  of  the  clan.  Once  developed, 
the  idea  of  individual  property  sapped  the  roots  of  the  clan 
life;  it  was  a  potent  factor  in  overthrowing  the  matriarchal 
family,  which  was  commonly  so  closely  connected  with  the 
clan  relationship  ;  it  became  the  basis  on  which  our  present 
civilization  has  developed.  Perhaps  its  most  important  so- 
cial effect  has  come  to  be  in  the  fact  that  the  possession  of 
property  is  so  generally  the  basis  of  social  differentiation. 
In  earlier  times  physical  force,  later  institutions  of  caste, 
were  the  basis  of  differentiation  in  society.  To-day,  in  the 
stable  forms  of  society,  wealth  is  the  most  universally  recog- 
nized source  of  power,  so  that  social  rank  is  often  deter- 
mined by  the  possession  of  wealth. 

III.  PRODUCTION — RELATION  TO  CIRCULATION,  AND 
CONSUMPTION 

In  the  study  of  industrial  organization  itself,  the  third 
phase  of  economic  activity  is  most  important.  Beginning 
within  the  early  social  group  long  before  it  can  be  called 
economic  production,  it  is  gradually  dominated  by  the  de- 
mands of  a  developing  market,  until  in  the  modern  city, 
the  family  finds  it  possible  to  give  up  absolutely  every  form 
of  domestic  production,  and  rely  solely  on  what  an  exten- 
sive market  will  furnish.  While  it  is,  of  course,  the  de- 
velopment of  circulation  and  exchange  which  is  responsible 
for  so  great  a  change  in  the  character  of  production,  the 
institution  of  property  which  has  just  been  considered,  is 
an  indispensable  condition.  Property  previously  acquired 
must  be  used  in  production,  if  it  be  only  to  support  the 
producer  till  he  can  reap  the  fruit  of  his  labor  in  the  ex- 
change of  his  products ;  capital,  properly  utilized  for  the 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     165 

production  of  goods  to  be  exchanged,  is  the  very  basis  of 
economic  production,  and  it  is  the  growth  of  capital  that 
has  made  possible  the  rapid  development  of  industry  dur- 
ing the  present  century. 

Institutions  of  Production:  Slavery. — The  institutions 
by  means  of  which  production  has  been  carried  on,  have 
varied  exceedingly  in  different  ages,  and  each  has  been  the 
basis  of  a  particular  type  of  social  life.  The  earliest  organ- 
ization for  this  purpose  was  some  form  of  slavery.  Inertia 
is  an  almost  universal  characteristic  of  savage  races;  men 
only  work  under  compulsion,  either  the  compulsion  of  im- 
mediate need,  or  the  compulsion  of  superior  human  force 
— and  the  effort  to  satisfy  immediate  need  is  so  spasmodic 
that  it  cannot  be  utilized  for  the  production  of  any  but  the 
simplest  objects.  When  captives  taken  in  war  could  be 
made  useful  for  work  instead  of  being  destroyed  or  eaten, 
a  genuine  means  of  production  was  secured;  and  unpro- 
ductive as  slave-labor  seems  to  us,  it  was  immensely  more 
productive  than  labor  to  which  the  only  spur  was  hunger. 
The  early  civilizations  of  the  East  show  what  has  been  ac- 
complished with  this  means  of  production;  indeed,  economic 
production  rested  on  no  other  basis  in  Greece  and  Rome. 

Feudalism. — Feudalism  marks  a  decided  advance  on 
slavery,  for  the  relation  of  master  and  servant  was  more 
permanent,  and  the  system  required  and  developed  greater 
ability  in  the  servant.  The  serf  had  certain  interests  of 
his  own,  not  wholly  identical  with  his  lord's,  and  his  posi- 
tion depended  largely  on  the  way  in  which  he  cared  for 
these  interests.  Thus  the  serf  was  trained  for  centuries  in 
the  school  of  partial  freedom,  till  at  length  the  power  to 
work  for  a  future  reward  was  a  greater  stimulus  than  ex- 
ternal compulsion.  Then  masters  gradually  learned  that 
hired  labor  was  more  profitable  than  forced  labor,  and  the 
principle  of  serfdom,  like  the  principle  of  slavery  before 
it,  had  to  give  way  to  a  higher  form  of  organization  for 
production.  Naturally  the  change  took  place  much  earlier 
/n  the  towns  than  in  the  country.  » 


166  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

The  Household  Unit  in  Production. — In  the  country  cir- 
cumstances favored  the  economical  independence  of  the 
household,  provided  it  paid  the  dues  assessed,  and  per- 
formed the  military  service  required.  The  household  be- 
came the  unit  for  production,  and  it  continued  to  be  so 
until  conditions  were  changed  by  the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery. Often  it  was  necessary  for  craftsmen  to  unite  in 
guilds  to  secure  their  rights.  Whether  or  not  he  was  a 
member  of  a  guild,  the  artisan  was  far  enough  from  real 
freedom  of  initiative;  nevertheless  he  was  able  to  work 
for  himself  instead  of  working  for  another. 

Production  ~by  Machinery  in  Factories. — In  the  modern 
industrial  system  which  has  grown  up  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  machinery  and  the  consequent  organization  of  pro- 
duction in  large  factories,  scarcely  a  vestige  of  the  former 
external  restraint  remains.  Ability  to  work  with  vigor, 
continuity,  and  skill,  is  almost  the  only  factor  which  de- 
termines the  workman's  position  in  the  industrial  system; 
while  the  relation  between  employer  and  employed  has 
been  reduced  more  and  more  to  a  strictly  economic  basis. 
The  removal  of  each  phase  of  external  restraint  on  labor, 
and  the  increasing  freedom  of  laborer  and  employer,  have 
been  attended  at  each  stage  by  a  wider  differentiation  of 
economic  classes,  so  that  the  industrial  world  is  more  com- 
plex than  ever  before. 

Influence  of  Industrial  Organization  on  other  Modes  of 
Social  Activity. — Each  of  these  forms  of  industrial  organ- 
ization is  the  basis  for  a  particular  form  of  the  higher  kinds 
of  social  activity.  Slavery  means  a  sharp  line  of  distinc- 
tion between  master  and  slave  in  "  social "  intercourse ;  the 
tribe  which  keeps  slaves  has  a  different  political  develop- 
ment from  the  tribe  without  slaves,  and  it  is  just  this  dif- 
ference which  separates  most  widely  the  developed  states 
of  antiquity  from  the  modern  state;  moreover,  slavery 
cultivates  certain  habits  of  mind  which  control  the  psychi- 
cal development  both  of  masters  and  slaves.  Under  the 
feudal  system  an  aristocracy  of  birth  determines  the  lines 


THE   INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF  SOCIETY     167 

of  "  social "  intercourse,  and  gives  rise  to  peculiar  social 
institutions  and  peculiar  social  ideals  ;  the  feudal  state  is  a 
confederacy  of  feudal  lords ;  chivalry  is  but  one  of  the 
psychical  products  of  the  system.  Finally,  in  the  present 
age  of  industrial  freedom,  differences  in  economic  capacity 
are  fully  developed ;  the  difference  between  individuals 
and  between  families  tends  to  increase  from  generation  to 
generation ;  yet  the  dead  level  of  barbarism  still  remains, 
so  that  every  advance  introduces  wider  differences  into  the 
economic  world.  Such  conditions  as  exist  to-day  foster  an 
aristocracy  of  wealth  ;  political  power  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  third  estate ;  business  integrity  and  habits  of  hard 
work  are  the  excellencies  most  highly  prized. 

Ideal  of  the  Economic  Group. — With  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  society,  the  peculiar  character  of  the  eco- 
nomic group  has  been  growing  more  and  more  distinct, 
until  to-day  the  economic  ideal  is  exerting  a  great  influ- 
ence on  the  character  of  other  social  groups.  The  economic 
group  proper  is  not  marked  by  any  real  solidarity  of  life  and 
interest;  rather  it  has  tended  to  drift  away  from  tbis  gen- 
eral solidarity  as  it  has  become  distinct.  Competition  is 
commonly  represented  as  the  basis  of  modern  industrial 
society,  and  competition  involves  free  circulation  of  labor. 
The  ideal  of  economic  relationship  is  free  association,  that 
is,  the  group  in  economic  life  is  composed  of  men  who 
unite  in  common  activity  because  tbey  recognize  that  their 
interests  are  identical,  and  who  feel  entirely  free  to  leave 
the  group  as  soon  as  their  economic  interests  diverge.  The 
laborer  is  bound  to  his  master  by  no  tie  except  such  as  he 
voluntarily  assumes ;  he  has  all  the  rights  and  all  the 
responsibility  which  belong  to  an  independent  economic 
unit.  The  trade  union  has  only  served  to  emphasize  the 
independence  of  the  individual  laborer  by  lending  to  each 
one  the  strength  which  comes  from  association.  Attempts 
have,  indeed,  been  made  to  bind  individuals  together  in 
more  permanent  unions  for  economic  purposes,  as  in  the 
case  of  profit-sharing  aiid  co-operative  societies,  but  they 


168  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

have  been  sporadic,  and  they  have  met  with  no  lasting 
success.  The  ideal  of  the  economic  group  is  the  absolute 
economic  freedom  of  both  master  and  laborer ;  although 
the  human  interest  that  binds  every  man  to  those  who  be- 
come his  neighbors  cannot  fail  to  lend  its  sanction  to  the 
group  united  by  economic  interests. 

Influence  of  this  Ideal  on  Social  Life. — Historically  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  the  individualistic  view  of  life, 
which  is  becoming  clearly  the  characteristic  of  the  eco- 
nomic man,  had  its  origin  in  economic  relations.  Prac- 
tically, however,  no  fervid  preaching  of  the  rights  of  the 
individual  had  been  so  powerful  to  affect  society  down  to 
its  very  foundations  as  the  constant  enforcing  of  the  rights 
and  responsibility  of  the  individual  in  the  industrial  life  of 
this  industrial  age.  It  tends  to  break  down  the  old  "so- 
cial "  relations,  and  even  marriage  comes  to  be  regarded  as 
a  temporary  contract  rather  than  the  beginning  of  a  com- 
mon life.  The  democratic  state  is  made  little  more  than  a 
"  social  contract,"  and  the  university  and  even  the  church 
are  often  regarded  as  associations  of  the  economic  type  in 
another  sphere  of  common  life.  The  cause  of  this  ab- 
normal influence  of  economic  ideals  is  to  be  found,  I  be- 
lieve, in  the  present  abnormal  development  of  industrial 
interests,  and  it  can  only  be  remedied  by  a  broader  devel- 
opment of  social  life  on  higher  planes. 

Fundamental  Character  of  Economic  Activity. — In  con- 
clusion, it  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  economic  activity 
is  at  the  very  basis  of  society.  Economic  changes  and 
crises  result  in  changes  and  crises  in  all  phases  of  social 
life ;  as,  for  example,  the  effect  of  depression  in  business 
on  marriage  and  birth  rate,  which  Buckle  has  attempted 
to  trace.  Habits  of  industry  are  at  the  basis  of  political 
stability.  Industrial  connection  has  often  preceded  polit- 
cal  connection,  even  as  to-day  commerce  is  the  strongest 
influence  in  the  development  of  international  law.  Higher 
types  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious  life  can  only  be 
developed  where  men  are  protected  from  the  constant 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION   OF   SOCIETY     169 

pressure  of  want  and  the  constant  fear  of  starvation.  And 
the  work-habit,  developed  so  slowly  in  the  course  of  indus- 
trial progress,  is  no  less  necessary  than  leisure  for  genu- 
ine psychical  progress.  "  The  economic  structure  of  so- 
ciety is  the  real  basis  on  which  the  judicial  and  political 
superstructure  is  raised,  and  to  which  definite  forms  of  so- 
cial thought  correspond ;  in  short,  the  mode  of  production 
determines  the  character  of  the  social,  political,  and  in- 
tellectual life  generally."1 

1  Quoted  from  Karl  Marx :  Kapital,  on  the  title-page  of  Lafargvc, 
The  Evolution  of  Property.    London,  1890. 


CHAPTEE  IX 

THE  FAMILY  AS  A  SOCIAL  UNIT 

The  Family  and  the  State — Earlier  Theory  that  the  State  arose  from 
the  Family.  The  Family  in  the  Matriarchal  Stage — Results  ac- 
cepted by  recent  writers  :  (a)  The  Principles  of  Marriage  Unions; 
(b]  Polyandry,  Polygyny,  and  Monogamy  ;  (c)  Blood-affiliation  and 
Property  Rights  in  the  Formation  of  the  Family. 

I.  The  Early  Family  in  the   Economic   Activity  of  Society.     Later 

Forms  of  the  Family  in  the  Economic  World;  The  Economic 
Future  of  the  Family. 

II.  The  Family  and  the  "  Social  "  Activity  of  Society. 

III.  The  Family  and  the  Psychical  Activity  of  Society,   (a)  Intellec- 
tual, (b)  ^Esthetic,  (c)  Moral — Moral  Life  of  Parents,  Moral  Per- 
sonality of  Child,  developed   in  the  Family — Moral  Inheritance 
includes  Customs  and  Social  Usages — Moral  Training  in  the  Fam- 
ily and  in  General  Society — Moral  Inheritance  the  Basis  of  Real 
Progress ;  (d)  The  Religous  Unity  of  the  Family ;   Continuity  and 
Progress  of  Religion  depend  on  the  Family. 

IV.  The  Function  of  the  Family  in  Political  Life. 

The  Family  and  the  State. — The  family  is  the  basis  of 
the  state.  This  phrase,  so  frequently  repeated  by  the 
earlier  students  of  society,  has  been  attacked  in  recent 
years  by  two  classes  of  opponents — by  those  who  believe 
that  civilized  society  ought  to  rest  on  some  other  founda- 
tion, and  by  investigators  who  have  found  that  the  theory 
of  the  historic  relation  of  state  and  family,  with  which  the 
phrase  had  been  associated,  was  entirely  false.  But  the 
very  study  which  destroyed  its  old  meaning  has  made  it 
pregnant  with  new  and  deeper  meaning. 

The  older  theory  of  the  relation  of  the  family  to  the 
state  is  simple  enough.  It  began  with  the  family,  treated 
the  clan  as  an  enlarged  patriarchal  family,  with  the  patri- 
arch frequently  left  out ;  the  tribe  it  regarded  as  an  over- 

170 


THE  FAMILY   AS   A   SOCIAL   UNIT  171 

grown  clan,  and  the  beginning  of  the  state  was  a  tribe 
that  had  outgrown  its  former  organization.1  Thus  the 
family  is  really  the  basis  of  the  state.  The  argument  in 
favor  of  this  theory  is  mainly  the  argument  e  consensu 
gentium,  for  the  clan  was  traced  back  to  a  common  an- 
cestor, and  the  tribe  and  the  nation  to  common  ancestors 
yet  further  back,  among  the  races  best  known  to  students. 
These  races — and  accordingly  those  who  studied  them — be- 
lieved that  descent  was  always  reckoned  in  the  male  line, 
for  the  father  was  the  head  of  the  family.  The  best  and 
ablest  defence  of  this  position  is  found  in  the  works  of  Sir 
Henry  Maine,  who  argues  from  laws  and  institutions  back 
to  the  time  when  they  arose,  and  shows  that  they  presup- 
pose a  patriarchal  family.  Nor  has  his  argument  been  se- 
riously impugned  by  later  students.  They  have  rather 
sought  to  show  that  Maine's  results  were  far  from  ulti- 
mate, and  that  the  history  of  another  world  remained  to 
be  written,  a  world  existing  before  the  date  back  to  which 
Maine's  investigations  had  reached. 

The  Family  in  the  Matriarchal  Stage. — Bachofen  was, 
I  believe,  the  first  to  attack  this  earlier  theory,  then  uni- 
versally accepted.  In  his  Mutterrecht  he  called  attention 
to  some  facts  which  had  been  misinterpreted  by  scholars, 
and  to  others  which  were  new,  in  proof  of  the  thesis  that 
a  matriarchal  family  had  quite  generally  preceded  the 
patriarchal  type.  McLennan,  in  England,  working  inde- 
pendently, argued  from  the  prevalence  of  wife-capture  as 
a  symbol  back  to  the  time  when  it  was  an  actual  fact,  and 
connected  with  this  the  prohibition  of  marriage  within 
the  tribe.  He  attempted  to  prove  :  (1)  that  in  early  times 
all  women  were  held  in  common  by  the  tribe  ;  (2)  that 
female  infanticide  often  made  wife-capture  necessary,  and 
frequently  resulted  in  a  polyandrous  family,  and  (3)  that 
in  this  polyandrous  family  the  husbands  of  the  same  wife 

1  Cf.  L.  Lange,  Romische  AltertMmer,  3te  Aufl.,  1876,  S.  102  sqq., 
where  the  organization  of  the  Roman  State  is  explained  very  much  in 
this  way. 


172  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

were  gradually  limited  to  brothers,  and  at  length  the  patri- 
archal family  arose  with  one  man  at  its  head.  The  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  these  propositions  included  (1)  examples 
of  loose  family  relations  in  savage  tribes  (the  author  assign- 
ing the  reason  that  in  the  polyandrous  family  the  particu- 
lar father  is  not  known),  and  (2)  some  few  and  isolated 
examples  of  the  two  forms  of  polyandry  which  serve  as 
types.  The  two  main  positions,  namely,  the  absence  of 
anything  that  might  be  called  family  relations  in  the  early 
history  of  the  clan,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  matriarchal 
family  before  the  existence  of  the  patriarchal  family  and 
monogamous  marriage,  have  been  widely  illustrated  by 
authors  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  until  they  form 
the  creed  of  a  school. 

Results  accepted  by  Recent  Writers. — A  third  group 
of  writers  differ  from  those  just  mentioned  mainly  in  their 
interpretation  of  the  facts.  Letourneau  regards  the  prim- 
itive family  as  an  early  form  of  property,  and  explains  its 
development  on  this  basis.  Starcke  shows  that  the  matri- 
archal family  tends  to  produce  heterogeneity,  and  so  fails 
in  itself  to  explain  the  forms  of  tribal  relationship  with 
which  it  is  most  closely  associated.  And  Westermarck 
finds  evidence  that  the  monogamous  family  has  been,  per- 
haps, the  commonest  form  during  the  whole  history  of  the 
race.  These  writers  agree  in  urging  that  (1)  there  is  ab- 
solutely no  evidence  to  prove  a  state  of  original  promis- 
cuity, though,  as  a  rule,  family  ties  are  looser  among  less 
civilized  tribes,  and  that  (2)  the  matriarchate  is  not  uni- 
versal, and  constitutes  no  evidence  at  all  for  the  original 
absence  of  family  relations. 

Results  :  1.  The  Principles  of  Marriage  -  Unions — 
These  researches  have  by  no  means  led  to  conclusive  re- 
sults on  all  points,  but  the  following  points  are  fairly  well 
substantiated  :  First,  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  any 
human  race  was  ever  without  the  idea  and  practice  of  com- 
paratively permanent  marriage-unions.  In  the  struggle 
for  existence,  a  species  must  be  very  prolific  \n  order  to 


THE  FAMILY  AS  A  SOCIAL  UNIT  173 

survive,  or  else  it  must  care  for  its  young ;  and  this  care 
must  continue  longer  as  the  period  of  immaturity  becomes 
longer.  Among  many  birds,  and  some  higher  apes,  there 
seems  to  be  monogamous  marriage  for  life  ;  and  many 
species  of  apes  care  for  their  young  until  they  are  several 
years  old.  In  the  lowest  stages  of  human  development 
marriage  unions  would  continue  only  during  the  pleasure 
of  the  parties  ;  but  what  evidence  we  have  rather  tends  to 
show  that  commonly  the  parties  chose  to  remain  together, 
even  for  life.  When  a  man  gained  the  power  to  treat  his 
wife  as  private  property,  the  woman  was  naturally  de- 
graded and  may  often  have  lost  all  motive  to  chastity.,  But 
what  was  lost  in  the  wife  was  more  than  made  up  in  the 
husband,  and  this  stage  probably  meant  an  increase  in  the 
stability  of  the  family.  When  at  length  the  wife  was  no 
longer  a  mere  slave,  though  her  husband  still  retained 
many  rights  over  her,  a  truer  union  was  again  possible. 
This  elevation  may  have  been  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
woman  went  to  her  husband  from  another  protector,  and 
thus  was  not  so  completely  under  his  control.  Finally,  we 
have  to-day  at  least  the  idea  of  a  permanent  affiliation,  in 
which  each  member  is  complementary  to  the  other,  and  on 
this  basis  marriage  has  received  new  meaning,  moral  and 
intellectual,  civil  and  religious.  The  truth  seems  to  be 
that  while  sexual  relations  have  never  been  absolutely  con- 
fined to  the  family,  there  has  always  been  a  family  ;  and 
that  as  the  principle  of  the  family  has  advanced  from  ani- 
mal association  to  property  in  women,  then  to  limited 
rights  of  the  husband,  and  finally  to  broader  association  in 
the  higher  developments  of  psychical  life,  the  family  has 
constantly  gained  in  permanence,  and  restraints  to  promis- 
cuous intercourse  of  the  sexes  have  been  correspondingly 
strengthened. 

2.  Polyandry,  Polygyny,  and  Monogamy. — The  ques- 
tion as  to  the  number  of  persons  involved  in  the  marriage 
relation  should  be  made  subordinate  to  the  questions 
discussed  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  The  polygynous 


174  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

family  does  indeed  mean  a  very  different  social  organiza- 
tion from  the  polyandrous ;  but  the  essential  question  is 
still  whether  the  family  is  a  form  of  property,  or  whether  it 
is  based  on  some  lower  or  higher  form  of  association.  The 
relative  numbers  of  men  and  women  exert  great  influence 
on  the  marriage-relation.  In  earlier  times  polygyny  was 
the  result  of  success  in  wife-stealing,  and  polyandry  was 
frequent  when  men  outnumbered  women.  The  reason  is 
evident,  for  in  an  undeveloped  society  the  sexes  must  or- 
dinarily live  together.  Where  descent  was  reckoned 
through  females  or  not  at  all,  either  polyandry  or  poly- 
gyny could  arise  without  difficulty,  and  the  transition  from 
one  to  the  other  would  not  necessarily  be  a  violent  one. 
The  patriarchal  family  only  permits  some  very  limited 
form  of  polyandry,  such  as  the  possession  of  the  same  wife 
by  brothers ;  on  the  other  hand,  based  as  it  usually  was 
on  property  rights,  polygyny  was  perfectly  normal.  The 
monogamous  family  seems  to  have  been  always  the  com- 
monest form,  both  because  it  was  the  most  natural  and 
practical,  and  because  the  numbers  of  the  two  sexes  were 
generally  about  equal.  The  principle  of  property  has,  on 
the  whole,  favored  monogamy,  as  most  men  could  support 
but  one  wife  ;  and  since  the  higher  forms  of  the  family 
are  only  possible  as  forms  of  union  between  one  hus- 
band and  one  wife,  this  is  the  only  type  of  family  the 
sociological  importance  of  which  it  will  be  necessary  to 
discuss. 

3.  Blood  Affiliation  and  Property  Rights  in  the  For- 
mation of  the  Family. — Children  have  always  been  asso- 
ciated with  parents,  even  among  the  higher  animals,  but 
the  notion  that  the  family  includes  more  than  two  gener- 
tions,  is  a  product  of  somewhat  advanced  human  culture. 
By  nature  the  child  is  far  more  closely  associated  with  the 
mother  than  with  the  father,  and  thus  blood-relationship 
would  naturally  be  traced  in  the  female  line  ;  uncertain 
paternity  would  also  favor  the  family  on  the  basis  of  the 
mother.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  sense  for  property 


THE   FAMILY   AS   A  SOCIAL   UNIT  175 

had  been  developed,  and  had  become  the  principle  of  the 
family,  the  children  of  the  mother  would  naturally  belong 
to  the  father  because  the  mother  belonged  to  him.  Tak- 
ing the  family  in  the  larger  sense  of  stock,  it  may  be  ma- 
triarchal, in  which  case  children  derive  position,  or  status, 
from  the  mother ;  while,  after  her  death,  the  elder  brother 
assumes  authority  over  his  brothers  and  sisters,  and  over 
their  children  (his  nephews  and  nieces).  Or  it  may  be 
patriarchal,  the  children  belonging  to  the  race  of  the 
father,  remaining  under  his  care  and  protection,  and  in- 
heriting his  property.  In  fact,  traces  of  the  matriarchal 
family  and  the  matriarchal  clan  are  to  be  found  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  and  in  almost  every  race.  The  evi- 
dence seems  to  show  that  the  matriarchal  family  or  clan 
has  ordinarily  preceded  the  patriarchal,  though  the  proof 
is  not  complete.  The  important  fact  is  that  two  influences 
have  been  at  work  in  the  formation  of  the  larger  family, 
namely,  blood  affiliation  and  property  rights ;  the  former 
of  the  two  was  generally  the  earlier,  the  latter  has  con- 
quered in  the  end  by  bringing  the  former  into  harmony 
with  itself.  In  some  interesting  cases  we  may  see  the  two 
principles  at  work  simultaneously,  as,  for  example,  among 
those  tribes  of  North  American  Indians  which  trace  rela- 
tionship through  females,  but  permit  the  son,  and  not  the 
nephew,  to  inherit  a  man's  property. 

I.  THE  FAMILY  IN  THE  ECONOMIC  ACTIVITY  OF 
SOCIETY 

The  Early  Family. — I  have  outlined  the  results  of  re- 
cent study  of  the  family  in  its  historical  development,  be- 
cause a  knowledge  of  the  different  principles  on  which  the 
family  has  been  based,  is  a  necessary  introduction  to  any 
study  of  the  family  as  a  factor  in  society.  The  function  of 
the  family  in  the  different  modes  of  social  activity  has 
varied  widely  as  its  character  has  changed.  In  the  econom- 
ic world  the  family  has  always  been  an  important  factor. 


176  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

The  lowest  stage  of  what  may  be  called  the  family  re- 
sembles the  highest  yet  developed,  in  that  husband  and 
wife  were  partners  in  the  effort  to  satisfy  the  economic 
needs.  In  this  partnership,  undoubtedly,  the  greater 
share  of  drudgery  fell  to  the  wife,  because  the  weaker  one 
could  be  compelled  to  do  more ;  this,  however,  does  not 
mean  that  the  lot  of  a  savage's  wife  is  always  a  hard  one, 
except  in  localities  where  it  is  very  difficult  to  secure  the 
means  of  subsistence.  The  more  strenuous  effort  of  war 
and  hunting  fell  to  the  husband,  nor  were  protection  and 
the  supply  of  game  unimportant  factors  in  the  family  as 
an  economic  unit.  The  reaction  of  these  common  eco- 
nomic interests  upon  the  family  unit  had  no  great  effect  in 
making  any  one  family  permanent ;  still,  if  one  such  part- 
nership was  dissolved,  each  party  found  it  necessary  to 
enter  into  another  similar  one  in  order  to  live  with  com- 
fort. The  rise  of  the  matriarchal  family,  with  its  intro- 
duction of  social  status,  gave  the  woman  another  position 
in  society  besides  the  position  of  a  wife,  and  consequently 
made  it  possible  for  her  to  satisfy  economic  needs  in  some 
other  way  than  as  a  wife.  The  immediate  effect  of  this 
must  have  been  to  weaken  the  marriage  relation  as  an 
economic  bond,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  extended  its 
reach. 

Later  Forms  of  the  Family  in  the  Economic  World. 
— In  the  patriarchal  family,  the  wife  is  the  property  of  her 
husband,  or  at  least  entirely  subordinate  to  him  ;  the  eco- 
nomic relation  is  equivalent  to  that  of  master  and  slave. 
The  economic  needs  to  be  met  are  no  longer  the  needs  of 
individuals,  but  the  needs  of  the  family,  and  it  is  the  fam- 
ily in  the  person  of  its  head  which  has  to  meet  these  needs. 
The  family  is  an  economic  unit  because  all  its  members 
have  disappeared  from  the  economic  world  except  its  head. 
This  absolute  dependence  of  the  members  of  the  family 
upon  the  father  and  master  must  have  had  an  important 
effect  in  making  the  family  a  true  and  stable  unity,  as 
viewed  from  other  stand-points.  The  patriarchate  was  the 


THE   FAMILY   AS   A   SOCIAL   UNIT  177 

beginning  and  the  foundation  of  stable  society.  The  next 
step  in  the  history  of  the  family  was  taken  when  the  wife 
secured  a  more  independent  position.  As  the  power  of  the 
husband  and  father  decreased,  the  unity,  and  in  like  man- 
ner the  economic  function,  of  the  family  came  to  rest  on  a 
new  basis.  Again  it  became  a  sort  of  partnership  in  which 
each  party  possessed  certain  rights  and  performed  certain 
functions;  again  it  became  a  social  aggregate,  and  some- 
thing more  than  a  man  and  his  goods.  The  modern  family 
is  a  complex  unity  in  the  economic  world;  the  husband  is 
the  breadwinner,  the  wife  is  supposed  to  make  the  home, 
and  the  presence  of  children  strengthens  this  complex 
unity  by  emphasizing  the  difference  between  the  work  of 
father  and  mother,  and  by  increasing  the  stimulus  to  the 
work  of  each. 

The  Economic  Future  of  the  Family. — It  is  impossi- 
ble to  prophesy  the  future  of  the  family  in  the  economic 
world.  Large  changes  are  going  on  at  the  present  time,  as 
the  result  of  the  opening  of  many  new  fields  of  economic 
activity  to  female  labor.  This  movement,  begun  in  part 
by  philanthropists  in  order  to  enable  women  dependent  on 
their  own  labor  to  support  themselves,  has  been  hastened 
rapidly  by  the  low  price  of  female  labor,  until  to-day  women 
are  employed  in  almost  every  form  of  production  suited  to 
their  capacity.  Naturally  the  men  who  have  been  engaged 
in  these  forms  of  production,  feel  the  result  of  this  influx 
of  new  labor ;  some  are  displaced  by  women,  all  feel  the 
effect  of  competition  with  persons  ready  to  accept  lower 
wages.  The  husband  no  longer  receives  sufficient  wages 
to  support  his  family,  so  that  his  wife  is  obliged  to  go  into 
the  factory  with  him ;  in  hard  times,  unless  his  labor  is 
really  superior  to  his  wife's,  he  may  be  turned  off  before  she 
is,  and  the  husband  is  supported  by  his  wife.  The  evil  ef- 
fects of  such  a  change  are,  of  course,  exaggerated  during 
the  transition  period ;  but  after  all  due  allowance  has 
been  made  for  this  fact,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
change  now  going  on  is  likely  to  have  a  most  deleterious 


178  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

effect  on  family  life.  The  necessity  that  the  family  be  an 
economic  unity  is  being  destroyed ;  and  whatever  attacks 
the  economic  life  of  the  family  is  sapping  its  foundation. 
This  is  a  far  more  important  problem  in  regard  to  the  fam- 
ily than  any  laxness  of  the  divorce  laws.1 

II.  THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  "SOCIAL"  ACTIVITY  OF 
SOCIETY 

As  for  the  distinctly  social  life  of  society,  the  family  is 
the  only  fixed,  stable  unit  that  is  here  developed.  The 
matriarchal  family  taught  men  that  the  child  never  entirely 
lost  his  connection  with  the  mother  who  bore  him.  Lines 
were  fixed,  determining  to  a  certain  extent  the  course  of 
social  life ;  blood-relationship  became,  and  has  ever  re- 
mained, the  basis  of  social  relations.  With  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  patriarchal  family  the  whole  face  of  society  was 
changed.  The  larger  family  now  had  a  tendency  to  be- 
come self-sufficient,  if  not  exclusive ;  social  position  was 
determined  both  by  birth  and  by  economic  conditions ; 
social  relations  arose  among  those  of  the  same  social  status. 
The  change  produced  in  distinctly  social  relations  by  the 
development  of  the  modern  family,  may  be  seen  by  com- 
paring society  in  a  Christian  country  with  society  in  a 
Mohammedan  country  to-day.  Woman  has  been  emanci- 
pated from  the  position  of  a  chattel,  society  centres  in  her 
parlor,  and  the  reciprocal  courteous  relations  of  husband 
and  wife  are  the  signal  for  similar  relations  among  men  and 
women  generally.  But  no  proof  is  needed  to  show  that 
the  character  of  society  is  determined  by  the  character  of 
the  family. 

1  De  Lestrade,  Elements  de  la  sociologie,  p.  75  sqq^  has  pointed  out 
some  of  the  evils  which  have  followed  the  opening  to  women  of  new 
spheres  of  economic  activity.  He  claims  that  it  lias  attracted  many 
away  from  a  natural  family  life,  instead  of  providing  means  of  securing 
an  honorable  livelihood  to  those  who  could  not  otherwise  provide  for 
themselves. 


THE   FAMILY   AS   A   SOCIAL   UNIT  179 


III.  THE  FAMILY  AND  THE  PSYCHICAL  LIFE  OF  SOCIETY 

i.  Intellectual. — Thirdly,  the  family  unit  has  performed 
an  important  function  in  the  psychical  life  of  society.  The 
family  was  the  first  school.  It  was  true  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  society  as  it  is  to-day,  that  a  man  and  woman 
unite  two  mental  worlds  in  one ;  the  horizon  of  each  is 
widened  to  include  what  that  of  the  other  has  included, 
the  desires  and  needs  of  each  become  the  desires  and  needs 
of  both.  Every  such  union  enlarges  the  mental  vision  of 
each  party,  and  more  than  this,  it  increases  the  power  of 
the  stimuli  to  intellectual  activity.  The  value  of  the  fam- 
ily in  stimulating  the  mind  has  always  depended  on  the 
coordinate  association  of  husband  and  wife,  and  in  the 
absence  of  this  the  family  may  even  be  a  hindrance  to  in- 
tellectual development ;  it  may  have  satisfied  the  need  of 
companionship  without  stimulating  the  need  of  intellectual 
companionship.  Farther,  the  intellectual  life  of  society 
depends  on  the  family  for  the  transmission  of  intellectual 
acquirements,  and  especially  of  intellectual  interests.  The 
school  proper  is  a  very  modern  institution;  the  child  of 
the  savage  receives  the  language  and  the  lore  of  his  tribe 
in  the  family.  The  patriarchal  family  came  to  include  the 
schoolmaster  as  a  frequent  appendage.  Even  the  present 
elaborate  school-system  accomplishes  but  little  except  where 
it  supplements  the  intellectual  life  of  the  home.  There  is  an 
intellectual  heredity,  which  is  far  more  important  than  the 
transmission  of  mere  knowledge  in  the  home,  as  it  is  more 
important  than  any  bodily  heredity.  The  child  shares  the 
intellectual  life  of  the  home,  his  mind  unfolds  and  is  quick- 
ened into  activity  by  its  share  in  that  life.  Modes  of  {bought 
peculiar  to  the  father  or  mother  reappear  in  the  child  ; 
but,  without  doubt,  the  most  valuable  part  of  this  mental 
inheritance  is  the  intellectual  needs,  the  love  of  truth,  and 
the  .  enjoyment  of  intellectual  intercourse ;  occasionally 
these  may  be  kindled  by  later  association,  properly  they  are 


180  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

the  product  of  the  home.     The  family  is  the  basis  of  intel- 
lectual progress. 

2.  The  Family  Trains  the  Esthetic  Tastes.  —  There 
is  no  school  to  be  compared  with  the  family  for  the  devel- 
opment of  aesthetic  taste  and  the  appreciation  of  the  beau- 
tiful.    The  child  who  is  not  taught  at  home  to  sympathize 
with  the  very  moods  of  Nature,  and  to  enjoy  the  beautiful 
in  his  environment,  will  probably  go  through  life  with  eyes 
closed  to  half  the  world  about  him.  Few  teachers,  except  the 
parents,  can  develop  the  beginnings  of  literary  taste  in  the 
child ;  the  "  innate  "  love  of  music,  and  love  of  beautiful 
form  and  color,  usually  products  of  the  home  life.     The 
very  relation  of  husband  and  wife  tends  to  quicken  the 
aesthetic  sense.      Outside    the    home,   men   are  rubbing 
against  each  other,  and  every  fibre  of  their  nature  is  called 
into  play  in  the  bitter  struggle  for  existence.     The  family 
is  a  charmed  circle,  shielded  from  the  outside  world ;  here, 
if  anywhere,  in  an  atmosphere  of  sympathy  and  encourage- 
ment, the  dormant  love  of  beauty  is  quickened  into  life. 
The  man  whose  days  are  spent  in  severe  manual  labor 
marries  a  factory  girl ;  neither  of  them  had  lived  any  life 
other  than  the  long  days  of  work,  and  an  occasional  even- 
ing of  rude  jollity.     And  yet  the  new  home  shows  the 
presence  of  a  spirit  foreign  to  the  earlier  life  of  either  ;  an 
effort  for  beauty,  oftentimes  crude  enough,  is  apparent  in 
all  its  arrangements  ;  the  common  love  is  the  beginning  of 
a  higher  life. 

3.  The  Family  Develops  the  Moral  Life  of  the  Parents. 
— The  most  important  social  function  of  the  family  con- 
cerns the  moral  life  of  the  community.    The  new  relations 
of  the  family  tend  to  develop  the  moral  personality  of  hus- 
band and  wife,  father  and  mother.     In  the  first  place,  a 
new  sense  of  responsibility  is  developed.     The  single  man, 
or,  indeed,  the  single  woman,  may  forget  to-morrow  ;  how- 
ever rashly  they  act,  they  alone  suffer  the  consequences  ; 
why  should  one's  rooms  be  tidy,  and  one's  wages  be  saved  ? 
All  this  is  changed  by  marriage,  for  each  party  has  his 


THE  FAMILY   AS   A   SOCIAL   UNIT  181 

sphere,  and  is  responsible  for  two  persons  in  that  sphere. 
He  cannot  be  careless  of  another's  welfare,  as  he  might 
be  careless  of  his  own.  This  is  even  more  true  as  chil- 
dren come  into  the  home.  The  husband  and  wife  can 
suffer  together,  whether  to  attain  some  desired  end,  or  to 
expiate  some  carelessness  or  sin  ;  but  the  responsibility  for 
helpless  children  is  the  strongest  motive  to  use  the  oppor- 
tunities of  life  earnestly  and  wisely.  Secondly,  the  family 
relationship  trains  the  parents  in  the  moral  power  of  self- 
sacrifice.  Husband  and  wife  live  for  each  other,  but  as 
parents  they  learn  more  truly  the  joy  of  serving  those  they 
love.  Personal  comfort  sacrificed  both  in  direct  care  of 
the  child,  and  in  providing  for  its  present  and  future  hap- 
piness ;  and  in  this  sacrifice  new  and  higher  joy  is  found. 
The  moral  personality  may  be  developed  by  the  child, 
even  after  the  man  has  been  hardened  to  all  other  influ- 
ences. Finally,  as  has  already  been  suggested,  the  ideal 
in  life  is  kept  alive  by  the  family  relations.  Here  one's 
sense  of  the  dignity  of  life,  and  the  dignity  of  virtue,  is 
quickened ;  men  learn  anew  the  sacredness  of  duty,  the 
absolute  worth  of  honor  and  of  truth.  The  typical  union 
means  a  union  of  the  highest,  truest  life,  which  can  never 
be  shared  except  in  the  family,  for  here  alone  can  it  re- 
ceive perfect  sympathy.  No  man  is  so  strong,  morally, 
that  he  is  not  aided  in  his  purpose  of  right  by  a  wife's  ap- 
proval ;  no  man  is  so  degraded  as  not  to  feel  the  power  of 
love. 

Moral  Personality  of  the  Child  Developed  in  the  Fam- 
ily.— The  child  owes  his  moral  nature,  his  conscience, 
and  the  beginnings  of  character,  to  the  family  life.  The 
family  is  a  moral  unit ;  the  moral  life  of  the  whole,  as 
determined  by  the  parents,  is  reflected  in  the  moral  life 
of  each  member.  The  virtues  prized  by  the  parents,  the 
rules  of  action  which  they  lay  down  for  themselves,  the 
ideals  which  ennoble  their  lives  and  give  them  meaning, 
these  are  the  influences  which  mould  the  moral  life  of  the 
child.  The  more  completely  this  ideal  of  moral  solidarity 


182  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

of  the  family  is  realized,  the  better  it  fulfils  its  mission. 
Such  moral  solidarity  does  not  at  all  mean  that  complete 
subjection  of  the  family  to  one  iron  will,  which  is  some- 
times seen.  Unless  the  subordination  of  children  to  par- 
ents is  such  a  social  union  as  to  develop  to  the  fullest 
extent  the  moral  personality  of  each  one  concerned,  it  en- 
tirely fails  of  its  mission.  The  family  has  been  a  direct 
hinderance  to  progress  when  the  rule  has  been  complete 
subjection  to  parents  during  their  entire  life ;  it  has  ac- 
complished nothing  when  the  son  has  been  kept  a  child 
morally,  until  he  has  suddenly  been  dropped  into  the  world 
and  entirely  cut  off  from  family  influences,  at  the  age  of 
physical  maturity.  It  is  necessary  that  the  family  be  in- 
deed a  union  of  moral  personalities,  if  it  is  to  develop 
moral  personality. 

Moral  Inheritance  includes  Customs  and  Social  Usages. 
— The  spiritual  inheritance  which  a  child  may  expect  to 
receive  from  his  parents,  includes  not  only  intellectual 
training  and  intellectual  desires,  not  only  the  distinctly 
moral  rules  and  moral  ideals,  but  also  the  family  tradi- 
tions and  customs  and  beliefs.  These  customs  form,  as  it 
were,  the  setting  for  morality ;  they  are  the  background 
on  which  the  moral  rules  stand  out  clearly ;  at  the  same 
time  they  invest  morality  with  a  certain  graciousness 
which  never  pertains  to  a  morality  learned  from  books,  or 
from  the  rude  experiences  of  life.  These  social  usages  not 
only  render  the  moral  life  of  the  family  attractive,  but 
they  constitute  an  additional  safeguard  and  strength  for 
the  morality  which  has  this  source. 

Moral  Training  in  the  Family  versus  Moral  Training  in 
General  Society. — Language  and  science  may  be  learned 
in  other  schools ;  other  associations  may  develop  the  aes- 
thetic sense;  moral  habits  and  moral  ideals  depend  in  a 
peculiar  way  upon  the  family.  Society  itself  trains  but 
rudely  in  morals  ;  it  recognizes  only  gross  and  outward 
sins,  it  punishes  harshly  and  unsympathetically  those  who 
go  astray.  The  fundamental  conceptions  of  a  true  self- 


THE   FAMILY   AS   A   SOCIAL   UNIT  183 

assertion  and  a  generous  self-sacrifice,  are  learned  only  in 
the  family.  The  strong  learn  to  respect  the  weaker,  the 
weak  are  encouraged  to  develop  their  strength  by  using  it, 
under  the  influence  of  family  love.  The  temperament  of 
bold  assertion  in  one,  the  cunning  pliancy  of  another  who 
overcomes  by  yielding — these  are  what  society  develops  to 
supply  the  absence  of  this  early  training  in  the  family. 
Again,  the  absoluteness  of  duty,  and  the  true  excellence 
of  virtue,  can  be  learned  only  in  the  family.  Only  a  par- 
ent can  say  "thou  shalt,"  and  compel  hearty  obedience 
by  the  power  of  an  overmastering  love.  The  world  says, 
"Honesty  is  the  best  policy,"  and  the  virtue  it  demands 
cannot  stand  the  strain  when  it  no  longer  seems  the  best 
policy.  "Nothing  succeeds  like  success,"  men  say,  and 
success  blots  out  every  sin.  Finally,  those  more  delicate 
excellencies,  honor,  sympathy,  and  tact,  are  not  to  be 
learned  outside  the  home.  They  rest  of  necessity  on  love 
of  man,  they  can  only  develop  under  the  shadow  of  a 
parent's  love. 

Moral  Inheritance  the  Basis  of  real  Progress. — The 
moral  heritage  of  each  generation  is  the  true  basis  of  prog- 
ress. The  son  must  be  equipped  with  the  best  manners 
and  morals  of  his  parents,  or  he  starts  on  a  lower  plane 
than  he  might.  Were  it  not  for  this  spiritual  heredity, 
each  generation  would  be  obliged  to  start  at  the  very  be- 
ginning, and  to  build  a  society  without  either  bricks  or 
mortar.  It  were  bad  enough  if  each  generation  had  to  in- 
vent its  own  language,  and  to  work  out  a  science  and  a 
philosophy  with  no  gain  from  ages  that  had  passed.  But  the 
very  basis  of  the  progress  of  society  is  moral  progress,  and 
moral  progress  depends  on  moral  heredity  working  through 
the  family.  Hugo,  speaking  of  S.  Dumas,  who  died  in 
defence  of  the  right,  says  :  "  II  etait  le  prodnit  de  cette 
magnifique  loi  d'ascension  qui  la  Revolution  a  determined, 
et  qui  veut  que  le  fils  soit  plus  que  le  pe're."1 

4.  The  Religious  Unity  of  the  Family. — From  the 
1  Quoted  by  De  Lcstrade,  Elements  de  la  sociologie,  p.  90. 


184  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

stand-point  of  religion,  the  family  does  the  same  important 
work  that  it  does  for  the  moral  life.  Husband  and  wife 
may  help  one  another  in  other  ways  while  holding  different 
religious  convictions,  but  the  true  unity  of  the  family  is 
impossible  when  the  inmost  life  of  each  member  is  lived 
apart ;  even  when  the  religious  life  of  each  expresses  itself 
in  different,  apparently  opposite,  ways,  they  cannot  help 
influencing  each  other's  religious  views,  and  a  true  family 
life  can  hardly  fail  to  develop  a  religious  side.  In  this  in- 
timate union  the  religious  life  finds  its  best  inspiration, 
for  the  responsibilities  and  joys  of  the  family  open  the 
heart  to  the  divine  life. 

Continuity  and  Progress  of  Religion  depend  on  the 
Family. — Eeligion  also  is  a  part  of  that  spiritual  inheri- 
tance which  the  child  receives  from  his  parents.  At  the 
mother's  knee,  children  learn  to  know  God  with  a  more 
vivid  sense  of  his  presence  and  his  love  than  is  gained  in 
any  other  way  ;  and  far  away  as  one  may  wander,  it  is  to 
the  mother's  God  that  he  returns.  The  divine  authority, 
and  righteousness,  and  love,  find  their  first  meaning  in  the 
loving  commands  of  a  parent,  and  the  philosopher  and  the 
theologian  continue  to  speak  of  God  as  the  Father  in 
heaven.  Sharing  the  religious  life  of  the  family,  entering 
into  its  religious  aspirations,  as  well  as  its  modes  of  relig- 
ious belief  and  worship,  the  child  learns  to  know  God  for 
himself.  Each  false  step  is  checked,  each  doubt  is  over- 
come in  the  presence  of  faith,  each  crisis  resolved  in  higher 
life  under  the  guidance  of  parental  love.  Here,  again, 
progress  is  possible  only  when  the  family  fulfils  its  duty  in 
the  development  of  spiritual  life.  Religion  extends  its 
sway  over  new  territory,  and  brings  new  spheres  of  social 
activity  under  its  influence,  only  when  one  generation 
quickens  religious  life  in  the  generation  that  follows.  The 
religious  motive  increases  in  strength,  and  enters  more 
deeply  into  the  lives  of  those  who  accept  it,  only  when  the 
child  starts  with  the  religious  life  of  his  family,  and  keeps 
this  alive  in  new  family  relations. 


THE  FAMILY   AS   A   SOCIAL    UNIT  185 


IV.  THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  FAMILY  IN  POLITICAL  LIFE 

I  have  refrained  from  speaking  of  the  position  of  the 
family  in  the  state  and  of  its  duty  to  the  state,  until  after 
treating  the  preceding  topic,  because  the  political  function 
of  the  family  depends  on  its  place  in  the  psychical  life  of 
society.  The  family  is  the  hasis  of  the  state,  because  the 
citizen  is  the  product  of  the  family.  For  the  state  in  par- 
ticular, as  for  society  in  general,  the  principle  of  con- 
tinuity and  of  progress  finds  its  strongest  support  in  the 
family.  Here  alone  do  the  civic  sentiments  and  virtues 
find  a  natural  soil  favoring  their  growth;  loyalty  to  the 
state  and  love  of  one's  country  must  be  developed  in  the 
home  if  their  roots  are  to  penetrate  deeper  than  self- 
interest.  The  sense  of  civic  responsibility  has  no  genuine 
vigor  if  it  waits  to  be  called  out  by  wrongs  actually  suffered 
from  a  corrupt  administration.  To-day  public  evils  persist 
under  every  form  of  government,  because  men  can  hardly 
ever  be  made  to  realize  their  duty  to  the  state  until  the 
burdens  brought  upon  them  become  excessive  in  each  in- 
dividual case.  Again,  the  power  of  self-sacrifice  in  behalf 
of  one's  country  is  developed  with  other  forms  of  self- 
sacrifice  in  the  family.  From  the  parents  are  learned  both 
the  value  of  the  ends  which  may  call  forth  self-devotion, 
and  that  moral  energy  which  does  not  hesitate  at  any  cost 
when  the  end  justifies  the  sacrifice.  Finally,  the  power  to 
act  with  others  is  best  learned  iii  the  family.  This  must 
be  learned  elsewhere,  if  not  in  the  family  ;  but  he  who 
goes  into  the  world  without  it  must  acquire  it  in  the  battle 
of  life  and  at  the  cost  of  many  severe  blows. 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  STATE  AS  AN  OKGAN  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY 

Methods  used  in  the  Science  of  Politics. 

I.  Forms  of  the  State.    1.  The  Beginnings  of  Political  Life.     2.  The 

Tribal  State.  3.  The  City-state  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  4.  The 
Feudal  State.     5.  The  Limited  Monarchy  and  Democracy. 

II.  Relation  of  Law  to  the  State.     Early  Law  based  on  Custom  and 
Religion — Law  as  Extended  by  the  Courts  in  Later  Times — Law- 
making  by  Legislatures — Sovereignty  and  the  Conception  of  the 
State. 

III.  The  Functions  of  the  Modern  State.    Three  Forms  of  State  Activ- 
ity :    1.  Diplomatic  and  Military  Activity.     2.  The  State  Punishes 
Crime,  and   Defends  the  Citizen  in  his  Rights — Prevention   of 
Crime.     3.  The  State  in  Relation  to  other  Modes  of  Social  Activ- 
ity :     (a)  The  State  and  Economic  Activity — Direct  Interference 
with  Industry  by  the  State,     (b)  The  State  and  the  Family,     (c) 
The  State  and  Higher  Social  Activities — Education — The  State 
and  Moral  Life — The  State  and  the  Church.     Conclusion. 

Methods  Used  in  the  Science  of  Politics. — The  state  was 
the  earliest  form  of  social  life  to  receive  careful  study,  and 
it  has  commanded  the  attention  of  men  with  very  different 
interests.  By  reason  of  the  great  divergence  of  views  as  to 
the  real  nature  of  the  state,  and  also  because  discussions  of 
this  topic  have  ordinarily  assumed  a  technical  character,  it 
is  peculiarly  difficult  to  give  a  brief  introduction  to  the 
study  of  the  state  as  a  social  organ.  There  is  no  general 
agreement  even  as  to  the  method  by  which  valid  results 
may  be  reached.  Among  those  who  regard  politics  as  a 
science,  and  who  would  study  the  facts  of  political  life  as 
they  actually  exist,  some  study  the  state  of  to-day,  others 
the  state  as  it  has  developed  toward  its  present  form.  The 
former  school,  which  may  be  called  analytic,  has  reached 

18G 


THE   STATE   AN   ORGAN   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY      187 

very  important  results,  and  through  the  writings  of  Ben- 
tham  and  Austin,  has  exercised  a  very  important  influence 
on  political  life,  especially  in  England.  The  historical 
school,  in  all  its  different  forms,  seeks  to  go  back  of  what 
is  seen  to-day,  and  explain  present  facts  by  showing  how 
they  arose.  The  writings  of  Sir  Henry  Maine  have  made 
this  position  familiar  to  English  readers.  Long  before  the 
careful  use  of  these  scientific  methods  in  politics,  and  in  a 
measure  since  their  introduction,  philosophy  has  been  ready 
to  explain  the  phenomena  of  the  state.  In  the  name  of 
"  reason/'  systems  of  natural  law  have  been  propounded, 
deducing  the  state,  its  authority  and  its  form,  its  functions 
and  their  organs,  from  the  nature  of  reasonable  beings.  Or 
again,  a  crude  individualism  has  begun  by  postulating  men 
without  social  relations,  and  then  has  introduced  these 
relations  by  means  of  a  social  contract.  Methods  not  very 
different  from  those  in  essential  character  are  still  used  in 
France  and  Germany ;  philosophic  systems  discuss  the 
validity  of  law,  and  outline  the  perfect  state  on  the  basis 
of  natural  principles  discovered  by  reason.  Apart  from  all 
question  as  to  the  truth  of  these  results,  it  is  the  work  of 
science  to  determine  what  the  state  is,  not  what  it  ought 
to  be  ;  and  with  this  in  view,  I  propose  first  to  give  an 
account  of  some  typical  earlier  forms  of  the  state,  in  order 
to  show  the  principles  on  which  the  state  has  been  based, 
and  the  functions  which  it  has  performed  for  society. 

I.    FOEMS   OF  THE   STATE 

i.  The  Beginnings  of  Political  Life. — The  earliest 
germ  of  that  political  life  which  later  develops  into  the 
state,  is  found  in  the  temporary  union  of  men  having  some 
interests  in  common,  for  the  purposes  of  defence.  The 
only  source  of  political  cohesion  was  pressure  from  outside, 
and  the  only  function  of  the  temporary  government  was  to 
defend  members  of  the  group  from  outside  attack.  The 
form  of  such  a  government  might  be  a  sort  of  oligarchy, 


188  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

since  it  was  necessarily  based  on  respect  for  those  whose 
personal  prowess  and  skill  enabled  the  group  to  meet 
attack  successfully.  Even  this  slight  beginning  of  politi- 
cal life  can  hardly  arise  until  men  recognize  some  common 
interests  ;  frequently  it  is  associated  with  the  early  devel- 
opment of  clan-relationship,  and  utilizes  these  ties  of  blood 
even  when  it  does  not  coincide  with  the  clan. 

2.  The  Tribal  State. — The  next  distinct  type  of  politi- 
cal organization  may  be  termed  the  tribal  state,  the  state 
on  the  basis  of  blood-relationship.  Some  type  of  family, 
in  later  times  the  patriarchal  family,  formed  the  basis  of 
the  tribal  state ;  this  unit,  held  together  by  ties  of  blood 
and  by  economic  ties,  by  a  common  authority  and  a  com- 
mon religion,  was  the  stable  element  out  of  which  states 
were  constructed.  Naturally,  then,  the  state  was  regarded 
as  a  larger  family  ;  common  descent  of  all  citizens  from  a 
fictitious  ancestor  was  postulated,  in  order  that  political 
union  might  have  the  sacredness  awarded  to  ties  of  blood  ; 
a  common  religion  arose,  lending  the  sanction  of  another 
world — the  world  of  the  gods — to  the  duties  and  the  ties 
of  this  world  ;  trade  with  other  nations  was  often  forbid- 
den, that  the  nation  might  be  a  self-sufficient  economic 
unit ;  the  king  was  invested  with  the  absolute  authority  of 
a  father,  and  with  the  duties  of  a  father.  The  cohesion  of 
such  a  state  is  simply  the  cohesion  of  the  family  on  a  larger 
scale,  though  in  the  case  of  the  state  a  common  religion 
and  a  common  submission  to  authority  are  relatively  more 
important  than  in  the  case  of  the  family.  Military  power 
does  not  make  a  nation,  but  the  authority  which  can  en- 
force obedience  and  develop  the  habit  of  submission,  per- 
tains to  the  very  essence  of  the  state.  Keligion,  especially 
in  the  form  of  ancestor- worship,  performed  a  very  impor- 
tant service,  both  in  developing  the  habit  of  obedience, 
and  by  enforcing  with  supernatural  sanctions  all  the  cus- 
toms of  the  past.  Such  a  tribal  state  defended  its  citizens 
against  attack  from  outside  ;  its  military  power  guaranteed 
safety  from  human  enemies,  and  by  its  religious  ceremonies 


THE  STATE   AN   ORGAN  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY      189 

it  retained  the  favor  of  the  gods.  To  its  internal  func- 
tions no  exact  limit  can  be  set.  Theoretically  it  might 
exercise  the  authority  of  a  father  over  the  lives  and  pos- 
sessions of  its  subjects  ;  practically  the  citizen  has  no  pro- 
tection against  state-interference  except  the  habit  of  non- 
interference that  must  characterize  any  state  which  seeks 
permanence  by  retaining  the  loyalty  of  its  subjects.  The 
tribal  state  may  be  governed  by  a  king  or  by  some  sort  of 
council,  but  whatever  the  form  of  government,  the  state 
is  largely  built  up  on  the  lines  of  the  family,  its  authority 
can  be  compared  to  the  authority  of  the  father,  and  its 
functions  are  the  functions  of  a  larger  family. 

3.  The  City-state  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. — The 
city-state  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans  is  the  outcome  of  this 
early  tribal  state,  and  shows  the  form  which  it  assumes  on 
a  high  plane  of  civilization.  The  cohesion  of  the  state  is 
due  to  bonds  of  the  same  character  as  before.  Life  in  the 
same  locality  does,  indeed,  accomplish  more  to  unite  men 
as  society  becomes  more  stable,  but  the  ties  of  blood  are 
still  strong,  and  the  fiction  of  relationship  often  lends  its 
sanction  to  ties  that  had  another  origin  ;  moreover,  a  state 
religion  is  still  a  bond  of  political  union.  The  true  guar- 
antee of  permanence,  the  real  unity  of  the  state,  consists 
in  the  highly  developed  life  of  the  people.  No  longer  is 
this  limited  to  a  few  customs  which  differ  slightly  from 
the  customs  of  a  neighboring  tribe ;  all  that  makes  life 
worth  living  finds  its  expression  in  the  common  life  and 
culture  of  the  group.  The  city-state  performs  the  func- 
tions of  defence  against  attack  of  man,  and  against  the 
wrath  of  the  divinities ;  while,  as  an  enlarged  family,  it 
may  direct  all  the  common  life  of  its  members.  The  func- 
tions of  the  developed  city-state  differ  from  those  of  the 
earlier  tribe  generally  in  the  greater  regularity  and  per- 
manence which  characterize  them,  and  the  most  important 
change  in  detail  is  the  administration  of  justice  which  the 
civilized  state  is  gradually  assuming.  Whatever  be  the 
particular  form  of  government,  whether  it  be  despotic, 


190  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

or  aristocratic,  or  democratic  in  the  old  sense  of  the  word, 
it  is  really  government  by  a  class ;  and  it  depends  on  a 
certain  balance  of  power  between  the  different  classes  in 
society.  King  or  council  governs  all  classes  through  the 
class  which  is  strongest,  or  which  is  in  the  best  position  to 
control. 

4.  The  Feudal  State. — The  third  type  of  state  to  be- 
come prominent  in  the  political  development  of  the  Indo- 
European  races  was  the  feudal  monarchy.  Here  personal 
allegiance  takes  precedence  over  the  other  factors  which 
bind  society  together,  and  an  elaborate  system  of  personal 
rights  and  duties  constitutes  the  very  framework  of  the 
state.  It  is  no  longer  a  larger  family  ;  it  is  rather  an  army, 
and  government  is  a  military  institution,  though  blood 
and  locality  partly  determine  the  composition  of  the  army. 
The  functions  of  the  feudal  state  are,  first,  defence — each 
chieftain,  small  or  great,  defends  his  subordinates  from 
attack,  and  each  dependent  can  be  summoned  to  aid  his 
superior  in  battle  ;  secondly,  the  administration  of  justice 
— each  chieftain  enforces  law  and  custom  among  his  de- 
pendents, and  brings  his  own  wrongs  before  his  superior 
for  judgment ;  thirdly,  the  direction  of  affairs,  many  of 
which  to-day  would  be  called  private,  since  economic  pro- 
duction and  distribution  are  conducted  largely  along  feudal 
lines,  and  economic  activity  is,  in  large  measure,  controlled 
from  above.  The  form  of  the  feudal  state  is  peculiar,  in 
that  it  has  the  semblance  of  being  organized  from  above. 
According  to  this  ideal  the  king  owns  the  whole  state,  no- 
bles receive  their  fiefs  at  his  hand,  and  distribute  their 
lands  among  their  subordinates,  while  themselves  retaining 
the  titles.  Formerly  men  lived  for  the  state ;  now  they 
are  called  on  to  live  for  the  king  in  whom  the  state  has 
been  concentrated.  Moreover,  consent  to  feudal  authority 
is  no  longer  due  to  inbred  custom  alone ;  it  certainly  is 
not  the  free  consent  of  reason  ;  it  is  the  consent  of  need, 
for  the  individual  absolutely  cannot  live  except  in  the  place 
where  he  finds  himself. 


THE  STATE  AN   OKGAN   OF   SOCIAL  ACTIVITY      191 

5.  The  Limited  Monarchy  and  Democracy. — The  feudal 
type  of  government  was  never  realized  long  at  a  time,  but 
the  ideas  which  it  engendered  have  borne  fruit  in  the 
aristocratic  monarchies  which  have  succeeded  the  old  feudal 
states.  Patriotism  has  often  meant  loyalty  to  the  king 
rather  than  loyalty  to  the  state  ;  monarchs  still  continued 
to  treat  the  state  as  their  private  property,  and  every  con- 
cession and  limitation  of  their  authority  has  been  secured 
with  difficulty.  Gradually  the  cohesion  of  the  state  has 
come  to  depend  more  and  more  on  the  highly  developed 
and  differentiated  common  life,  of  which  it  is  the  political 
expression  ;  many  and  various  ties  bind  men  together,  and 
patriotism  is  devotion  to  the  state  which  protects  them  in 
the  interests  which  make  up  their  very  life.  The  question 
as  to  the  proper  functions  of  government  to-day  requires 
separate  consideration  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  trade  has 
been  throwing  off  the  yoke  of  political  control,  that  gov- 
ernment has  but  little  to  do  with  social  relations,  and  that 
the  intellectual,  artistic,  and  religious  life  of  every  people 
is  rapidly  freeing  itself  from  political  influence  and  sup- 
port. To-day,  as  in  earlier  times,  governments  have  vari- 
ous forms,  depending  largely  on  their  historic  precedents ; 
but  the  principle  on  which  the  state  rests  is  practically  the 
same  in  all.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people  is  the  real 
governing  power,  different  as  may  be  the  form  of  its  ex- 
pression. The  king  is  the  minister  of  the  people,  not  a 
superior  being  clothed  with  divine  rights  ;  and  Parliament 
is  forced  to  register  the  will  of  the  people,  or  its  character 
is  changed  until  it  does.  The  will  of  the  people  is  ex- 
pressed by  means  of  representatives  elected  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  responsible  to  the  body  which  has  delegated 
power  to  them.  By  this  device  the  government  is  brought 
into  closest  relations  with  a  large  body  of  people ;  it  is 
theoretically  possible  for  the  people  to  choose  men  far 
wiser  than  the  average  to  administer  affairs  of  state,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  each  individual  is  encouraged  to  defend 
his  own  liberty. 


192  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 


II.  KELATION  OF  LAW  TO  THE  STATE 

Having  thus  outlined  some  of  the  typical  forms  of  the 
early  state,  we  may  now  ask,  What  is  the  essential  nature 
of  the  state  ?  With  reference  to  this  question,  we  get  much 
light  from  the  study  of  law,  for  law  is  the  organized  body 
of  rules  which  are  enforced  by  the  state.  So  intimate  is 
the  connection  between  the  nature  of  a  body  of  laAvs  and 
the  nature  of  the  state  which  enforces  these  laws,  that  it 
is  possible  to  argue  safely  from  the  one  to  the  other. 

Early  Law  based  on  Custom  and  Religion. — In  earliest 
times,  the  basis  of  law  is  to  be  found  in  custom  and  re- 
ligion. To  make  a  law  would  be  an  act  as  impossible  as  it 
was  sacrilegious.  The  ideas  of  justice  which  the  state  en- 
forces are  to  be  found  in  an  elaborate  body  of  custom,  to 
which  absolute  validity  is  assigned.  Priests  often  have  the 
duty  of  preserving  the  knowledge  of  this  custom,  and  the 
rules  of  procedure  which  it  enjoins  are  frequently  religious 
in  their  nature  ;  but  the  priest  has  no  recognized  power  to 
make  any  change  in  them.  The  only  principle  of  growth 
which  we  can  discover  lies  in  the  power  of  king  (or  judici- 
ary body)  to  decide  new  cases,  provided  he  follows  the  es- 
tablished rules  of  procedure.  By  means  of  these  special 
cases  the  range  of  customary  law  might  be  widely  extend- 
ed, and  it  was  so  extended  when  the  people  felt  the  need 
of  a  more  complete  law.  Law  rested  on  the  fact  that  a 
people  assigned  authority  to  certain  principles  of  action. 

Law  as  Extended  by  the  Courts  in  Later  Times. — With 
the  development  of  higher  stages  of  civilization,  this  rev- 
erence for  custom  did  not  entirely  disappear,  although  the 
need  of  a  more  extended  law  was  constantly  felt.  Until 
comparatively  modern  times,  this  need  was  largely  met  by 
the  courts.  The  adjudication  of  particular  cases  continued 
to  be  the  source  of  large  additions  to  what  was  generally 
recognized  as  law  or  "  right,"  and  this  process  gradually 
assumed  two  forms.  First,  cases  decided  as  coming  under 


THE  STATE  AN   ORGAN   OF  SOCIAL   ACTIVITY      193 

previously  existing  law  frequently  extended  the  scope  of 
that  law.  And,  secondly,  new  cases,  of  which  the  court 
was  ready  to  take  cognizance,  might  lead  to  a  wide  ex- 
tension of  the  actual  law  of  a  people.  The  decisions  of 
the  Roman  Praetor,  together  with  the  edicts  announcing 
the  principles  which  would  govern  these  decisions,  and  the 
method  of  the  English  Courts  of  Chancery,  are  the  most 
striking  examples  of  this  kind  of  law-making.  In  both 
these  cases,  a  law  is  evidently  a  rule  which  the  people 
recognize  as  binding,  because  their  courts  enforce  it. 

Law-making  by  Legislatures. — In  the  modern  state, 
almost  all  law  has  its  source  in  legislative  bodies  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  pronouncing  laws.  Such  bodies  have  the 
power  to  make  laws  which  judge  and  lawyer  are  bound  to 
recognize  as  valid  (except  where  a  constitution  is  contra- 
vened). The  ease  with  which  a  law  seems  to  be  "made" 
to-day,  gives  rise  to  the  idea  that  law  may  really  be  manu- 
factured without  limit;  but  a  deeper  study  shows  that  the 
real  foundation  of  law  is  still  the  will  of  the  people.  Un- 
less public  opinion  stands  behind  a  law,  transgressors  will 
not  be  brought  before  the  courts,  and  even  the  courts  them- 
selves will  be  lax  to  administer  the  law.  And  when  the 
will  of  the  people  demands  a  new  law  to  express  a  definitely 
formed  opinion,  no  body  of  legislators  can  permanently 
stand  in  its  way.  The  legislator  is  really  the  formulator 
of  law,  not  its  maker ;  legal  sovereignty,  the  power  to 
make  valid  laws,  rests  with  the  legislature  ;  but  the  real 
sovereignty  is  the  will  of  the  people,  and  no  law  continues 
to  be  effective  unless  the  people  recognize  it  as  law,  and 
consent  to  obey  it  as  law.  It  is  necessary  to  remember, 
however,  that  the  "will  of  the  people"  does  not  mean  a 
momentary  majority,  and  perhaps  not  a  majority  at  all ; 
nor  is  it  any  capricious  wish.  Traditions  of  the  past  are  a 
most  potent  factor  in  determining  it;  temperament  and 
education  help  to  mould  it ;  the  attitude  of  neighboring 
states  and  the  desire  for  the  future  prosperity  of  one's  own 
state  furnish  additional  motives ;  and  the  people  which 


194  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

has  no  common  life  sufficiently  developed  to  produce  a 
common  will,  can  have  no  laws,  for  there  is  no  basis  for 
the  state. 

Sovereignty  and  the  Conception  of  the  State. — Modern 
political  science  finds  the  real  basis  of  the  state's  authority, 
as  well  as  the  basis  of  the  authority  of  law,  in  the  will  of 
the  people.  When  a  people  consent  to  obey  the  state,  the 
state  has  thereby  the  right  to  exercise  authority  ;  and,  in- 
asmuch as  the  real  will  of  the  people  is  formed  gradually, 
and  changes  but  slowly,  the  state  has  a  comparatively 
stable  foundation.  The  people,  not  a  majority  within  a 
given  territory,  but  the  people  as  a  definite  society,  are  the 
basis  of  the  state ;  the  state  is  simply  the  organ  of  society, 
to  accomplish  certain  ends,  and  it  is  distinguished  from 
other  social  organs  by  the  fact  that  it  is  the  ultimate  em- 
bodiment of  social  authority  or  sovereignty.  The  state 
may  be  defined  as  a  society  exercising  authority  over  its 
members ;  compared  with  the  authority  of  other  social 
institutions,  the  authority  of  the  state  is  final ;  and, 
for  this  reason,  two  states,  as  states,  cannot  exist  in  the 
same  territory. 

III.  THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  MODERN  STATE 

The  question  as  to  the  proper  functions  of  the  state  and 
the  limits  to  state  activity,  has  been  much  discussed  during 
the  past  century.  The  cry  for  liberty  has  been  a  potent 
force  in  limiting  the  sphere  of  government ;  believers  in 
•the  commune  as  the  political  unit,  or  in  "  state's  rights/7 
have  resisted  any  increase  of  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
central  government;  individualists  in  philosophy  and  the 
classical  school  of  political  economists  have  resented  any 
interference  by  the  state  in  the  sphere  of  industry.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  less-favored  classes  find  some  na- 
tions ready  to  lend  them  special  aid,  and  they  ask  this  aid 
of  all ;  legislatures  seem  to  be  omnipotent,  so  they  are 
asked  to  make  the  world  over ;  all  realize  the  solidarity  of 


THE   STATE  AN   ORGAN   OF  SOCIAL   ACTIVITY      195 

the  nation  as  never  before,  and  if  all  have  a  common  inter- 
est, why  should  not  the  government  seek  to  further  that 
interest  in  any  way  at  its  command  ?  The  commonly  ac- 
cepted idea  of  the  state  affords  a  general  principle  which 
throws  light  on  this  question,  although  it  is  not  sufficient 
in  itself  to  decide  particular  cases.  The  state,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  a  society  exercising  authority  over  its  members, 
and  having  final  authority  within  a  given  territory.  It  is 
evident  that  forms  of  activity  which  demand  the  final 
power  of  the  whole  society  for  their  realization,  or,  again, 
which  require  general  rules  absolutely  enforced  on  all 
classes  alike,  come  within  the  proper  sphere  of  the  state. 
On  the  other  hand,  an  almost  universal  experience  has 
shown  that  where  freedom  of  initiative  is  required,  politi- 
cal machinery  is  likely  to  stand  in  the  way  of  success. 

Forms  of  State  Activity. — The  forms  of  state  activity 
undertaken  by  the  modern  European  state,  may  be  classified 
under  three  heads :  (a)  activity  with  reference  to  other  states, 
guaranteeing  protection  from  external  attack  or  interfer- 
ence ;  (b)  activity  with  reference  to  its  citizens,  guarantee- 
ing them  security  and  liberty  ;  and  (c)  modification  of 
other  forms  of  social  activity.  Under  the  last  heading 
comes  the  interference  of  the  state  in  the  sphere  of  eco- 
nomic life  and  in  the  sphere  of  intellectual  life,  the  propri- 
ety of  which  is  being  so  generally  discussed  to-day.1 

i.  Diplomatic  and  Military  Activity. — The  first  ne- 
cessity of  a  state  is  the  power  to  assert  a  place  for  itself 
among  its  neighbors.  The  case  of  some  of  the  smaller 
European  states  (e.g.,  Belgium)  shows  that  this  power  is 
not  necessarily  military  force  alone,  yet  ordinarily  the  state 
must  be  able  to  defend  its  territory  by  military  means.  In 
this  manner,  the  nation  is  isolated  from  other  nations  so 

1  This  classification  corresponds  roughly  with  the  three  ends  of  State 
activity  proposed  by  von  Holtzendorff  (Principien  der  Politik,  chapters 
vii.,  ix.,  and  x.),  namely,  Machtzweck,  Rechtzweck*  and  gessellschaftlicht 
Culturzweck,  although  the  definition  of  each  differs  radically  from  his. 
It  seems  to  me  quite  unnecessary  to  discuss  the  ultimate  ends  of  the 
State  proposed  by  Bluntschli  and  Burgess. 


196  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

far  as  it  may  think  desirable,  and  its  peculiar  institutions 
have  an  opportunity  for  free  development.  The  first  con- 
dition of  peace  and  security  is  this  protection  from  ex- 
ternal attack.  The  sphere  of  convention  between  different 
states  has  been  widely  extended  in  modern  times,  so  that  a 
state  to-day  requires  a  wise  diplomatic  service  in  addition 
to  mere  military  power,  if  it  is  to  maintain  its  position 
with  reference  to  other  states.  By  this  means  states  enter 
into  union  with  each  other  for  purposes  of  common  ad- 
vantage, and  each  state  finds  larger  sphere  for  the  exercise 
of  its  own  individuality.  So  long  as  different  states  pre- 
serve their  distinct  national  life,  the  twofold  form  of  ac- 
tivity will  continue ;  and  in  spite  of  all  that  is  justly 
urged  against  the  great  armaments  of  Europe,  there  can  be 
no  question  that  the  necessity  of  maintaining  its  military 
position  does  very  much  to  develop  the  resources  and  the 
common  life  of  each  nation. 

2.  The  State  Punishes  Crimes  and  Defends  the  Citizen 
in  his  Rights. — The  second  fundamental  form  of  political 
activity  concerns  the  relation  of  citizens  to  each  other  and 
to  the  state,  and  its  aim  is  to  guarantee  security  and  liberty 
to  each  citizen  and  to  protect  the  state  from  the  internal 
danger  of  vice  and  crime.  Evidently  the  sphere  of  law  is 
twofold;  acts  which  endanger  the  common  life  of  the 
state  are  punished  by  the  state,  and  also  the  individual  is 
protected  in  the  exercise  of  certain  rights  defined  by  the 
state.  The  punishment  of  crime  clearly  belongs  to  the 
state,  for  it  requires  the  use  of  an  authority  which  reaches 
to  all  parts  of  society.  It  is  true  that  when  the  state  has 
not  protected  men  from  crime,  they  have  devised  a  way  to 
protect  themselves ;  the  system  of  family  blood-vengeance 
afforded  a  rude  means  of  protecting  life  in  early  times,  and 
the  trade  societies  of  Flanders  and  Italy  are  an  example  of 
the  same  ends  more  perfectly  secured  in  mediaeval  periods 
of  anarchy.  But  the  punishment  of  crime  is  not  likely  to 
pass  from  the  hands  of  the  developed  state,  both  because 
the  state  alone  is  really  fitted  to  deal  with  crime,  and  be- 


THE  STATE  AN  ORGAN  OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY      197 

cause  crime  endangers  the  common  life  which  finds  expres- 
sion in  the  state.  Accordingly  we  find  that  the  state  not 
only  provides  machinery  for  determining  justice  and  pun- 
ishing the  convicted  criminal,  but  it  also  establishes  an 
elaborate  police  system  to  secure  the  criminal,  and  in  the 
person  of  its  own  attorneys  it  conducts  the  case  against 
him.  This  has  proved  to  be  the  only  effective  means  of 
dealing  with  those  who  utterly  refuse  to  regard  the  most 
fundamental  rules  of  common  life. 

The  attempt  has  been  made  to  limit  the  functions  of 
the  state  to  this  single  form  of  activity,  viz.,  care  for  in- 
ternal safety,  but  this  principle  does  not  furnish  the  simple 
means  desired  for  setting  a  right  limit  to  governmental 
activity.  Care  for  internal  safety  demands  something  more 
than  the  punishment  of  offences  already  committed ;  many 
evils  may  be  prevented  by  wise  precautions,  and  more  still 
would  be  prevented  if  the  state  could  develop  the  moral 
character  of  its  citizens  to  a  higher  stage.1  But  the  mod- 
ern state  only  finds  it  wise  to  interfere  with  the  moral  train- 
ing of  individuals,  in  the  case  of  young  persons  who  have 
already  been  convicted  of  crime  ;  and  although  it  regulates 
such  matters  as  the  manufacture  arid  use  of  dynamite,  the 
extension  of  police  supervision  is  not  unreasonably  objected 
to  by  opponents  of  a  paternal  government. 

Besides  punishing  crime,  the  modern  state  protects  its 
citizens  in  the  exercise  of  certain  well-defined  rights.  It 
enforces  contracts  when  properly  made  ;  it  affords  damages 
for  accidents  and  for  other  injuries  ;  it  permits  the  forma- 
tion of  corporate  bodies  for  business  purposes,  and  defines 
the  rights  and  duties  of  these  societies ;  it  may  even  lend 
its  stamp  as  a  guarantee  that  goods  come  up  to  a  particular 
standard  of  excellence,  thus  protecting  individuals  against 
fraud.  All  these  various  forms  of  activity  may  be  carried 
on  by  private  associations,  and  some  of  them  seem  to  be 
passing  out  of  the  hands  of  the  government ;  but  the  gov- 
ernment has  an  advantage  over  other  forms  of  association, 

1  W.  v  Humboldt,   Gesam.  Werke,  VII.  50  sqq. 


198  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

in  that  it  can  establish  universally  binding  rules,  and  can 
act  through  courts  which  command  universal  respect.  In 
this  manner  the  citizen  finds  through  the  state  security  of 
life  and  property,  and  liberty  in  the  exercise  of  his  rights. 
To  some  schools  of  thought,  government  has  seemed  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  the  liberty  proper  to  man,  but  it  has 
become  very  clear  that  true  liberty  is  a  different  thing  from 
the  right  to  act  without  reference  to  any  other  man.  A 
government  in  process  of  formation  may  seem  to  curtail 
individual  freedom ;  but  the  right  to  be  protected  from  the 
incursions  of  other  states,  the  right  to  be  protected  against 
crime  and  against  unjust  interference  OD  the  part  of  any 
man,  the  right  to  all  the  economic,  social,  and  intellectual 
privileges  of  civilized  society — these  are  civil  rights  guar- 
anteed by  the  state.  And  as  the  sovereign  state  passes 
more  and  more  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  as  the  indi- 
vidual has  been  secured  against  interference  in  wider  and 
wider  spheres  of  action,  the  history  of  developing  govern- 
ment is  the  history  of  growing  liberty. 

3.  The  State  in  Relation  to  other  Modes  of  Social 
Activity. — Even  if  the  state  does  not  go  beyond  the  most 
limited  sphere  of  activity,  it  renders  very  important  service 
to  all  the  other  modes  of  social  activity.  But  the  modern 
state  does,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  interfere  directly  to  favor 
industry  and  even  to  carry  on  some  forms  of  industry  ;  the 
separation  of  state  and  church  is  by  no  means  universal ; 
and  the  control  of  education  has  passed,  to  a  considerable 
degree,  into  the  hands  of  the  state.  If  the  present  ten- 
dency toward  socialistic  measures  should  continue,  direct 
care  for  the  welfare  of  each  citizen  would  come  to  be  the 
most  important  sphere  of  state-activity. 

(a)  The  State  and  Economic  Activity. — The  economic 
life  of  society  is  fundamental,  and  common  political  life  is 
not  likely  to  arise  except  where  common  economic  interests 
bind  men  together  (Chap.  VII.,  p.  140).  But  it  is  equally 
clear  that  industry  demands  the  protection  of  the  state. 
Peace  and  security  are  the  necessary  conditions  of  industrial 


THE  STATE  AN  ORGAN   OF  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY      199 

development ;  and  if  the  state  does  not  provide  these,  in- 
dustrial associations  must  perform  as  best  they  may  the 
proper  function  of  the  state,  or  their  existence  is  constantly 
threatened.  Gradually  the  state  has  assumed  the  important 
function  of  defining  and  giving  fixity  to  some  economic  in- 
stitutions. The  state  has  never  been  an  inventor  of  new 
economic  forms,  but  when  such  forms  or  institutions  have 
arisen,  it  has  often  preserved  them  and  given  them  such 
definiteness  that  it  could  protect  persons  in  the  use  of  them. 
Thus  the  forms  of  contract  grew  up  in  economic  intercourse, 
but  the  state  has  defined  a  legal  contract,  and  when  the 
contracting  parties  have  complied  with  the  law,  it  under- 
takes to  enforce  the  contract.  Money  was  used  long  before 
the  state  coined  gold  or  stamped  paper,  but  it  was  soon 
found  convenient  to  have  the  degree  of  fineness  and  the 
weight  of  a  piece  of  gold  authoritatively  determined,  and 
this  the  state  undertook  to  do  at  an  early  date.  In  similar 
manner  the  state  has  benefited  commerce  by  giving  a  def- 
initeness and  sanction  to  banking  institutions ;  in  fact,  it 
guards  the  rights  of  individual  persons  and  the  welfare  of 
the  community,  by  defining  the  manner  in  which  any  sort 
of  corporation  may  be  formed,  and  the  legal  rights  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  such  a  corporation.  The  state  has  invented 
none  of  these  things,  but  it  has  aided  economic  activity  by 
giving  definite  authoritative  form  to  various  economic  insti- 
tutions. 

Direct  Interference  with  Industry  by  the  State. — It 
is  an  open  question  how  far  the  state  should  directly  in- 
terfere with  economic  matters.  Quite  generally  it  assumes 
the  power  to  protect  inventors  by  granting  them  patents ; 
and,  in  many  countries,  it  uses  its  power  of  taxation  to  aid 
some  forms  of  industry,  and  even  to  hinder  other  forms, 
which  it  regards  as  injurious.  All  modern  states  undertake 
the  transmission  of  mail  matter,  and  keep  important  road- 
ways in  order;  many  states  go  farther,  and  control  the 
railways  and  the  telegraph.  "Public  works"  important 
for  the  general  welfare,  such  as  the  dredging  of  harbors, 


200  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

surveys  of  land,  and  charts  of  the  shore,  are  generally 
undertaken  by  the  state.  And,  to-day  the  state  is  asked 
to  go  farther  still,  and  to  become  an  employer  of  labor  in 
numerous  forms  of  industry.  It  is  generally  agreed  that 
the  state  is  society  as  exercising  final  authority,  and  making 
rules  which  bind  all  classes  alike.  The  limits  of  direct 
state  activity  in  the  economic  sphere  will  be  determined 
in  the  light  of  this  principle;  where  final  authority  and 
universal  rules  are  more  advantageous  than  freedom  of  in- 
dividual initiative,  the  state  should  assume  control.  Evi- 
dently the  line  will  be  drawn  differently  in  different  locali- 
ties, and  in  different  ages. 

(b)  The  State  and  the  Family. — In  its  relation  to  social 
institutions,  particularly  to  the  family,  the  state  has  much 
the  same  office  as  in  relation   to  economic  institutions. 
The  state  has  grown  up  along  with  the  family,  and  has  al- 
ways recognized  its  validity.     In  modern  times,  by  making 
marriage  a  civil  as  well  as  a  religious  institution,  it  has 
given  the  family  a  definite  status  before  the  law.     At  the 
same  time,  it  has  defined  the  legal  rights  and  duties  of 
the  members  of  the  family,  and  thus  has  helped  to  make  the 
relations  in  the  family  more  definite  and  more  permanent. 
At  times  the  state  has  given  its  sanction  to  other  social  in- 
stitutions, and,  in  a  measure,  it  still  recognizes  rank  in 
some  countries.     These  institutions  are  not  invented  by 
the  state,  but  the  state  may  define  them  and  give  them 
permanent  form. 

(c)  The  State  and  Higher  Social  Activities.  Education. 
— The  relation  of  the  state  to  the  intellectual  life  of  society 
has  varied  greatly  at  different  times.     Undoubtedly  the 
state  derives  some  advantage  from  uniformity  of  language, 
opinion,  and  belief ;  and  in  the  effort  to  secure  this,  the 
liberty  of  the  press  has  been  curtailed,  universities  have 
been  brought  under  a  dominant  central  influence,  as  in 
France,  and  schools  have  been  made  instruments  for  se- 
curing intellectual  uniformity,  as  in  Alsace-Lorraine.   The 
obstacles  which  any  forcible  effort  for  uniformity  places  in 


THE  STATE   AN   ORGAN   OF   SOCIAL   ACTIVITY      201 

the  way  of  a  vigorous  and  growing  intellectual  life  are  so 
effective,  that  modern  governments  have  been  less  and  less 
inclined  to  interfere  with  the  free  expression  of  thought. 
Even  the  universities  under  direct  government  control 
have  secured  a  large  degree  of  freedom.  Along  with  this 
increase  in  intellectual  liberty,  another  force  has  been  at 
work  impelling  governments  to  bring  the  matter  of  edu- 
cation under  more  direct  supervision.  The  modern  state 
is  democratic,  and  even  as  a  matter  of  self-defence  it  is 
really  compelled  to  educate  its  voters.  In  spite  of  many 
disadvantages,  compulsory  education  under  the  control  of 
the  state  has  become  quite  general,  and  children  are  com- 
pelled to  do  a  certain  amount  of  school-work. 

The  State  and  Moral  Life. — It  is  clear  again  that  it  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  modern  state  to  have  citi- 
zens of  strong  moral  chara«ter.  The  presence  of  the  mor- 
ally weak  and  the  morally  depraved  is  a  constant  menace 
to  the  state's  existence.  But  moral  character  is  not  to  be 
created  by  force,  and  any  interference  with  morals  on  the 
part  of  authority  is  likely  to  sap  the  springs  of  character 
without  accomplishing  any  but  a  temporary  success.  The 
moral  and  religious  state  of  a  Savonarola  or  a  Calvin  shows 
the  utter  futility  of  the  effort  to  make  men  moral.  The 
modern  state  has  found  it  possible  to  remove  some  tempta- 
tions to  vice  by  forbidding  the  circulation  of  impure  litera- 
ture, by  limiting  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  (in 
America)  by  forbidding  organizations  which  encourage 
gambling.  More  than  this  can  hardly  be  accomplished  by 
the  use  of  authority,  i.e.,  by  the  state. 

The  State  and  the  Church. — The  question  of  the  relation 
of  state  and  church  has  never  been  settled.  Ever  since  the 
political  and  the  religious  organizations  of  society  became 
distinct  in  form,  they  have  retained  a  close  connection, 
and  in  European  countries  this  connection  still  continues. 
It  is  urged  in  its  favor  that  if  religious  beliefs  are  true, 
they  are  a  most  important  concern  of  the  state,  that  the 
nation  should  fittingly  appear  before  God  in  a  national 


202  INTRODUCTION   TO    SOCIOLOGY 

church,  that  the  religious  side  of  life  cannot  be  so  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest  of  life  as  to  remove  it  entirely  from  the 
proper  sphere  of  government.  On  the  other  hand  it  is 
evident  that  the  intervention  of  the  state  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion tends  to  make  religion  formal  and  perfunctory,  even 
when  it  does  not  directly  interfere  with  religious  liberty. 
The  age  when  state  and  church  were  one  is  gone  by,  but 
the  question  as  to  the  exact  relation  between  the  two  is 
answered  differently  under  different  conditions. 

Conclusion. — The  question  as  to  the  proper  limits  of 
government  activity  is  one  of  the  most  important  questions 
of  the  day.  It  is  the  old  question  as  to  the  proper  extent 
of  external  authority  which  was  at  stake  in  the  formation 
of  the  Protestant  church,  and  in  the  war  for  the  independ- 
ence of  the  American  colonies,  as  in  so  many  contests  be- 
fore and  since.  The  problem  belongs  to  practical  politics, 
but  it  receives  more  definite  form  from  the  general  consent 
as  to  what  the  state  is,  viz.,  the  organ  of  final  authority, 
controlling  all  individuals  within  its  territory. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  INDIVIDUAL   FROM    THE    STAND-POINT  OF 
SOCIOLOGY 

Welfare  of  the  Individual  vs.  the  Welfare  of  the  Social  Group— This 
Conflict  in  the  Different  Spheres  of  Social  Life — The  Teaching  of 
History  as  to  this  Antithesis— The  Group  as  a  Social  Unit — The 
Place  of  the  Individual  in  Society — The  Antithesis  between  the 
Individual  and  the  Group  is  False — Psychical  Power  involves 
Dependence  on  Society — Institutions  as  a  Source  of  Power — 
Education  proceeds  on  this  Principle — Egoism  and  Altruism. 

The  Person  is  the  Concrete  Expression  of  the  Group-life — The  Element 
of  Individuality  in  Persons— Individuality  of  Persons  and  Com- 
plexity of  Society — Individuality  of  Environment — The  Individual 
Personality — The  Individual  and  Social  Progress. 

Welfare  of  the  Individual  versus  the  Welfare  of  the  So- 
cial Group. — Theories  of  social  organization  have  taken 
very  different  views  of  the  units  out  of  which  society  is 
composed,  and  these  differences  have  been  reflected  in  the 
opinions  of  social  reformers.  Eoughly  speaking,  theoreti- 
cal and  practical  thinkers  are  divided  into  two  opposing 
camps  on  the  question  whether  the  individual  or  the  social 
group  is  the  true  unit  for  the  sake  of  which  society  exists. 
This  contest  between  the  individualists  and  the  socialists, 
as  they  would  term  themselves,  is  not  limited  to  economic 
and  political  relations,  but  runs  through  the  whole  field  of 
social  activities.  Moreover,  the  problem  is  twofold,  al- 
though the  two  parts  are  intimately  related.  On  the  one 
hand  is  the  question  of  fact,  whether  from  the  scientific 
stand-point  the  individual  or  the  group  is  the  bearer  of 
culture  and  the  true  unit  of  society  ;  on  the  other  hand  is 
the  question  of  worth,  whether  the  individual  or  the  social 
whole  has  ultimate  value,  and  which  should  be  developed 

203 


204  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

at  the  expense  of  the  other  in  case  the  two  come  into  con- 
flict. 
This  Conflict  in  the  Different  Spheres  of  Social  Life. — 

This  conflict  has  received  most  emphasis  in  the  economic 
sphere.  On  the  one  hand  is  the  individualism  of  the  or- 
thodox political  economy  ;  the  unit  of  economic  activity  is 
the  economic  man,  ruled  by  his  desire  for  wealth ;  the 
competition  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  ex- 
alted into  a  universal  law,  and  the  bitter  struggle  of  man 
with  his  neighbor  is  made  the  basis  of  all  that  is  good  and 
all  that  is  just ;  for  these  thinkers  the  doctrine  of  laissez- 
faire  represents  not  only  a  present  truth  but  also  an  ideal, 
for  a  strong  society  depends  on  the  strong  citizens  that  are 
said  to  be  developed  under  this  regime. — The  other  party 
has  never  been  entirely  unheard.  In  business  no  man 
lives  to  himself,  but  prosperity  or  adversity  overspreads  a 
whole  nation  at  once ;  confidence  is  at  the  basis  of  success- 
ful business  activity ;  employer  and  laborer  suffer  together  ; 
practically,  the  claim  is  made,  the  social  group  should  in- 
tervene to  protect  and  encourage  industry,  for  the  interest 
of  the  part  is  in  the  advancement  of  the  whole.  The 
theory  of  economic  socialism  is  that  the  individual  is,  and 
should  be,  a  fraction  of  the  whole. — The  same  conflict  ap- 
pears in  the  sphere  of  "social  "  life  in  the  narrower  sense 
of  the  term.  There  is  the  comfortable  belief  in  a  sort  of 
natural  equilibrium,  such  that  each  man  eventually  finds 
his  true  associates  ;  the  belief  that  men  are  very  different, 
and  that  the  differences  in  society  are  but  the  differences 
which  necessarily  exist  between  the  men  who  enter  into 
society ;  the  belief  that  the  social  world  is,  and  that  any  at- 
tempt to  make  it  better  by  wholesale,  will  be  fraught  with 
grave  mischief.  In  opposition  to  this  is  the  cry  of  the 
sentimental  reformer  that  one  class  is  "  grinding  another 
beneath  its  iron  heel,"  that  the  "rich"  will  suffer  unless 
they  condescend  to  help  the  "  poor,"  and  that  the  "poor" 
have  an  inalienable  right  to  the  good  things  of  this  life. 
With  reference  to  the  intellectual  and  aesthetic  life,  there 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  FOB  SOCIOLOGY  205 

is  the  call  for  the  "  education  of  the  masses,"  and  over 
against  it  the  belief  that  culture  is  won,  not  imparted,  that 
the  desire  for  knowledge  must  be  awakened  in  the  indi- 
vidual before  one  can  speak  of  educating  him.  In  the 
moral  and  religious  life  there  is  the  ideal  of  virtue  and  of 
holiness  which  applies  to  the  individual ;  the  appeal  is  di- 
rected to  the  individual  to  choose  a  right  course  of  action, 
and  to  develop  a  right  character  in  himself.  There  is  also 
the  ideal  of  self-sacrifice  and  love  which  bids  men  forget 
themselves  in  the  service  of  others. — Finally,  the  same  an- 
tithesis appears  in  the  state.  Individualism  says,  Rights 
belong  to  those  who  can  win  them ;  property,  political 
rights,  political  power,  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  best  fit- 
ted to  use  them  ;  the  state  does  exist  for  the  man,  and  ought 
to.  And  there  is  a  socialistic  doctrine  of  fraternity  and 
equality  which  claims  to  deal  with  classes  rather  than  with 
men.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  class  is  reached  by  neglect- 
ing the  differences  of  individuals ;  if  individuals  are  by 
nature  alike  and  equal,  it  should  be  the  function  of  the 
state  to  realize  this  likeness  and  equality  in  the  perverted 
modern  world. 

The  Teaching  of  History  as  to  this  Antithesis. — Ad- 
herents of  both  these  views  are  accustomed  to  appeal  to 
history  in  support  of  their  opinions.  Christian  Socialists 
and  Socialists  of  the  chair  in  Germany  refer  to  early  He- 
brew institutions  as  embodying  their  ideas ;  de  Laveleye 
shows  how  far  we  have  strayed  from  the  type  of  life  found 
in  the  early  Aryan  village  communities.  The  individualist 
responds  by  quoting  Sir  Henry  Maine's  law,  "  from  status 
to  contract,"  with  all  the  evidence  that  can  be  brought 
forward  in  its  favor.  But  if  one  is  ready  to  lay  aside  the 
spectacles  of  either  party,  he  sees  two  truths  standiiig  out 
with  considerable  clearness.  (1)  The  earliest  achievement 
of  the  human  race  was  the  development  of  social  groups. 
By  the  development  of  race  ties,  of  common  interests,  and 
of  centres  of  authority,  men  who  had  been  separate  animals 
before  became  united  in  human  groups.  The  physical  sub- 


206  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

jugation  of  the  individual  to  the  power  of  the  group  was, 
of  course,  most  apparent  when  the  patriarchal  family,  the 
despotic  state,  and  the  despotic  religious  community 
seemed  to  obliterate  the  separateness  of  men.  Yet  the 
process  of  the  subordination  of  man's  physical  self  to  the 
life  of  the  community  did  not  stop  here ;  the  great  eastern 
despotisms  are  not  the  truest  examples  of  such  subordina- 
tion. In  the  course  of  ages  the  character  of  this  rela- 
tion has  indeed  changed — it  has  been  incorporated  more 
and  more  in  the  inner  life  of  the  individual ;  but  men  have 
never  before  been  so  dependent  on  society  as  they  are  to- 
day. (2)  History  is,  at  the  same  time,  the  record  of  the 
growing  importance  of  the  members  of  society,  until  to- 
day all  the  stress  is  laid  on  the  individual  as  the  intellectual 
and  the  moral  element  of  society.  This  process  has  been 
far  from  regular,  but  the  result  has  grown  clearer  with  each 
advance  in  civilization.  Beyond  a  question,  the  individu- 
al's psychical  life  has  never  had  such  stimulus  to  broad  and 
full  development  as  it  has  to-day.  These  two  truths  ex- 
plain the  ease  with  which  both  the  so-called  individualist 
and  the  socialist  find  in  history  the  proof  that  their  re- 
spective opinions  are  correct.  At  the  same  time  they  show 
that  the  antithesis  between  the  two  positions  is  falsely 
drawn. 

The  Group  as  a  Social  Unit. — The  preceding  chapters 
have  indicated  with  clearness,  I  hope,  the  solution  of  this 
question  from  the  stand-point  of  a  scientific  sociology. 
Culture,  civilization,  are  primarily  the  property  of  the  so- 
cial group.  Language  and  science  develop  with  the  social 
mind,  and  exist  in  this  mind.  Political  life  is  the  life 
of  the  nation  ;  the  moral  code — and  the  enforcement  of 
it — is  a  possession  of  the  social  mind  and  a  mode  of  its 
activity.  Nor  are  the  differences  of  psychical  life  essen- 
tially differences  of  individuals,  but  rather  differences 
characterizing  one  class  and  another.  When  changes  oc- 
cur—  when  two  types  of  culture  are  thrown  in  contact 
with  each  other,  and  gradually  fused  into  a  new  whole 


THE  INDIVIDUAL   FOR  SOCIOLOGY  207 

— it  is  no  mere  figure  of  speech  which  expresses  this  as 
the  contact  of  two  groups  ;  it  is  no  conflict  between 
individuals,  nor  is  the  result  a  change  in  what  is  peculiar 
to  the  individual,  but  only  in  the  life  of  the  group  in  which 
they  are  included.  Sociology  teaches  us  that  the  group 
is  the  true  unit  of  social  life. 

The  Place  of  the  Individual  in  Society.— This  account 
of  the  position  of  the  social  group  is  but  the  half  of  what 
sociology  has  to  say  upon  this  question.  Sociology  does  not 
annihilate  the  individual ;  rather  it  shows  that  individuality 
is  something  more  than  physical  separateness.  As  a  mem- 
ber of  society,  man  develops  a  psychical  personality,  and  the 
science  of  society  has  to  study  man  as  a  person.  The  great 
difficulty  with  socialism,  as  ordinarily  stated,  and,  indeed, 
with  the  "social  organism "  theory,  is  that  it  neglects  this 
most  important  side  of  sociology.  There  is  a  social  mind, 
but  the  social  brain  is  a  figment  of  the  imagination ;  the 
individual  is  the  centre  of  consciousness,  and  the  centre  of 
will.  The  individual's  needs  and  emotions  are  the  stimuli 
to  social  activity  ;  through  his  mind  the  social  ideals  be- 
come active  and  effective  ;  the  norms  of  ethics  and  of  logic 
are  social  rules  for  the  man's  thought  and  action.  The 
psychical  life  of  the  class  is  not  developed  apart  from  the 
psychical  life  of  the  members  of  the  class — it  is  the  same 
thing  regarded  from  two  stand-points.  There  can  be  no 
strong  and  well-developed  society  made  up  of  weak  men, 
for  the  society  is  nothing  but  the  psychical  life  of  its  mem- 
bers. The  individual  is  the  centre  of  activity :  this  means 
that  all  modifications  of  social  activity  are  operative  through 
the  individual,  that  progress  is  due  to  influences  acting  on 
the  individual,  and  retrogression  commences  as  soon  as  the 
individual  ceases  to  feel  the  influence  of  higher  motives  and 
impulses.  Even  when  a  reform  pretends  to  deal  with 
whole  classes  at  a  time,  it  only  accomplishes  this  by  bring- 
ing influences  to  bear  at  once  on  all  the  particular  mem- 
bers of  these  classes.  The  individual  is  the  centre  of  con- 
sciousness :  this  means  that  all  intellectual  advance  takes 


208  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

place  through  personal  leaders.  Truth  is  a  social  posses- 
sion, but  new  truth  comes  through  individual  leaders  of 
thought ;  ideals  affect  all  the  members  of  a  class,  but  it  is 
the  moral  or  religions  leader  who  has  the  insight  to  see  the 
needs  of  his  age,  and  the  ability  to  point  out  the  way  in 
which  those  needs  are  to  be  met. 

The  Antithesis  between  the  Individual  and  the  Group 
is  False. — The  study  of  sociology,  as  well  as  the  study  of 
history,  suggests  that  the  antithesis  between  the  group 
and  the  individual  is  but  partial,  and  has  been  falsely  stated. 
Both  lines  of  study  make  it  evident  that  personality  and 
dependence  on  a  personal  environment  develop  together 
pari  passu  —  in  other  words,  that  they  are  one  and  the 
same  thing  essentially.  The  individualistic  and  the  so- 
cialistic theories  are  alike  false,  because  both  are  built  upon 
a  false  antithesis.  The  great  truth  which  needs  to  be  em- 
phasized to-day  is  the  fact  that  personality  is  the  product 
of  social  life,  and  cannot  exist  apart  from  social  life ;  the 
fact  that  each  advance  in  psychical  life  and  psychical 
power  means  a  new  dependence  on  one's  personal  environ- 
ment. Life  as  a  man,  the  very  power  to  be  an  individual 
person,  lies  in  the  relation  to  this  personal  environment. 
As  to  the  question  of  fact,  both  the  individual  and  the 
group  are  social  units,  although  the  relations  of  each  to 
the  larger  whole  are  so  different  that  they  are  not  in  any 
sense  homogeneous  units.  As  to  the  question  of  worth, 
neither  group  nor  individual  has  worth  by  itself  (strictly 
speaking,  neither  exists  by  itself)  ;  it  is  the  individual  in 
society,  the  person  or  the  group  as  the  bearer  of  this  psy- 
chical life,  to  which  this  concept  of  worth  may  properly 
be  applied.1 

Psychical  Power  involves  Dependence  on  Society.— The 
thought  that  psychical  power  lies  in  a  developed  psychical 
relationship  with  a  personal  environment,  demands  some 
further  illustration.  Perhaps  the  most  familiar  example 
of  this  truth  is  to  be  found  in  the  relation  of  the  individual 
1  Cf.  T.  H.  Green,  Prolegomena  to  Ethics,  pp.  200,  351. 


THE  INDIVIDUAL   FOR  SOCIOLOGY  209 

to  the  state.  The  despot  may  demand  anything  of  his  sub- 
ject (in  theory)  ;  in  practice  he  receives  little  from  him, 
and,  at  most,  all  he  does  for  the  subject  is  to  protect  him 
from  the  incursions  of  other  nations.  The  development  of 
the  state  has  been  a  story  of  increasing  dependence  of  the 
citizen  on  the  state  for  protection  of  life  and  of  those  habits 
of  life  which  one  may  choose  without  interfering  with  the 
rights  of  others,  for  the  protection  of  property  and  of  all 
the  other  institutions  of  modern  life.  This  growing  de- 
pendence has  meant  a  liberty  constantly  larger,  for  political 
liberty  is  not  typified  by  the  hermit's  life,  but  rather  by  the 
power  to  act  out  one's  purposes  in  concert  with  others. 
Liberty  under  authority  is  a  truism,  but  its  truth  has  too 
often  been  forgotten.  True  political  freedom  is  the  high- 
est type  of  political  dependence. 

Institutions  as  a  Source  of  Power. — In^  a  similar  way 
everyjjislitufciou  means  a  new  dependence  of  the  individual 
upjjjuuaciftty.  Take  for  example  the  institution  of  money. 
A  cannot  expect  B  to  accept  the  proper  amount  of  his 
wheat  in  payment  for  the  manufactured  goods  that  A 
needs  ;  B  wants  tokens  with  stamps  of  the  Government 
on  them  to  the  effect  that  they  are  legal  tender,  and  noth- 
ing else.  Both  A  and  B  depend  on  society  for  a  particular 
medium  of  exchange.  Further,  there  are  special  institu- 
tions which  deal  in  this  special  ware  of  money  ;  and  those 
who  desire  can  depend  on  the  banks  to  handle  much  of 
this  commodity  in  their  behalf.  Connected  with  them  are 
still  otherinsjitutiefts-  OIL  which  the  individual  is  obliged 
to  depen(fjto  the  rules  of  which  he  is  obliged  to  conform, 
if  he  is  to  engage  in  business  in  modern  society.  ^Each_  of 
these'complex  institutions  arose  and  exists  to-day,  because 
the  individual  has  found  he  has  greater  power " wTien  he  de- 
pends  on  them.  He  depends  on  society  for  money,  it  may 
increase  the  range  of  business  he  controls  a  thousandfold ; 
he  learns  to  depend  on  the  banks,  space  no  longer  hinders 
him  from  paying  for  goods  in  Berlin  as  easily  as  in  New 
York,  and  time  no  longer  obliges  him  to  wait  till  he  can 


210  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

himself  accumulate  capital  for  his  increasing  business. 
The  individual's  power  increases  as  he  learns  to  depend 
more  completely  on  more  perfect  institutions. 

This  same  principle,  that  power  lies  in  a  true  subjection 
to  society,  lies  at  the  basis  of  much  of  what  we  call  educa- 
tion. The  school  brings  the  child's  mind  into  sympathy 
with  the  civilization  of  his  age,  and  subordinates  it  to  the 
norms  of  this  civilization.  In  language,  in  natural  science, 
in  mathematics,  it  bids  the  child  accept  the  habits  and 
views  of  this  our  twentieth  century,  because  it  is  through 
this  living  connection  with  the  psychical  world  in  which  he 
lives  that  he  may  expect  power,  and  by  no  other  course  can 
he  expect  it.  Psychical  life  is  developed  by  developing  de- 
pendence on  the  psychical  environment. 

Egoism  and  Altruism. — The  same  error,  which  has  ap- 
peared in  the  antithesis  of  the  individual  and  the  group, 
appears  also  in  the  antithesis  between  egoism  and  altruism, 
which  recent  writers  have  emphasized  until  it  is  false.  A 
dilemma  is  proposed  :  Men  are  seeking  either  their  own 
good,  or  the  good  of  someone  else,  and  on  this  basis  men 
are  parcelled  out  more  or  less  fortuitously  into  two  oppos- 
ing groups.  That  this  is  pure  abstraction  is  evident  at  a 
glance,  for  no  one  can  entirely  forget  other  people  in  his 
so-called  egoism,  nor  does  the  altruist  live  without  the  least 
reference  to  himself.  In  business,  in  political  or  in  intel- 
lectual pursuits,  men  are  living  the  life  that  is  consonant 
with  their  nature  and  environment.  They  are  governed, 
not  by  simple  self-interest  (if  there  be  any  such  thing),  but 
by  the  varied  interests  which  have  entered  into  their  lives 
through  a  contact  with  various  types  of  society.  There  is 
a  sort  of  egoism  in  the  child  or  in  the  savage  who  yields  to 
each  animal  passion,  because  as  yet  no  real  humanity  has 
been  developed  in  him ;  and  that  man  may  be  called  an 
egoist,  whose  semi-human  desires  have  been  made  keener 
and  stronger  by  contact  with  social  life,  while  he  himself 
has  not  taken  up  that  truly  human  life  into  himself.  In 
like  manner  there  is  an  altruism  of  the  child  or  savage — or 


THE  INDIVIDUAL   FOli  SOCIOLOGY  211 

animal — whose  action  is  guided  by  a  social  impulse  to  aid 
his  companion  as  easily  as  by  appetite  or  passion  ;  and  there 
is  an  altruism  of  the  man  whose  sympathy  with  others  has 
been  developed  in  society  rather  at  the  expense  of  the  full 
personality  which  is  his  right  and  his  duty  as  a  member 
of  society.  Still,  it  is  entirely  false  to  regard  egoism  and 
altruism  as  opposed  ethical  ideals.  What  the  popular 
philosopher  means  by  altruism  as  an  ideal  is  ordinarily  just 
that  development  of  truly  human  life,  of  personality,  in 
the  man  which  distinguishes  the  psychical  man  from  the 
animal  man.  The  ideal  is  really  the  development  of  per- 
sonality and  not  self-negation. 

The  Person  is  the  Concrete  Expression  of  the  Group- 
life. — While  the  primary  object  of  sociological  study  is  the 
life  of  the  social  group,  it  is  necessary,  even  in  order  to 
attain  this  end,  to  form  a  clear  conception  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  his  place  in  society.  To  the  question  :  What  is  a 
person  ?  the  first  and  simplest  answer  from  this  stand-point 
is  that  the  individual  person  is  the  concrete  expression  of 
the  life  of  the  group.  The  group  is  the  bearer  of  culture, 
but  this  is  not  the  culture  of  the  group  ;  it  is  the  men,  the 
members  of  the  group,  to  whom  this  culture  applies.  So 
far  is  this  the  case  that  in  attempting  to  analyze  the  social 
mind,  the  only  practical  course  has  been  to  follow  the 
general  divisions  of  the  psychology  of  the  individual  mind. 
The  person  is  the  concrete  expression  of  this  psychical  life. 
The  word  person  does  not  apply  to  the  animal  man.  Like 
other  animals  the  man  has  a  separate  physical  existence, 
but  only  as  he  develops  psychical  life  in  society  does  he 
become  a  person.  Truth  becomes  a  power  controlling  his 
intellectual  life  ;  righteousness  is  the  norm  of  an  incipient 
moral  life  ;  he  receives  eyes  to  behold  the  beautiful.  Still 
a  part  of  nature,  it  is  none  the  less  true  to  say  that  he  rises 
above  nature  and  the  natural ;  he  becomes  lord  of  nature  as 
he  becomes  lord  of  himself.  He  becomes  a  person,  and  the 
conception  of  luorth  arises  to  express  the  difference  between 
this  new  phenomenon  and  the  rest  of  nature.  This  psy- 


212  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

cliical  life  is  a  process,  not  a  stationary  fact;  it  is  ever 
growing  in  power  and  in  complexity,  so  that  personality 
stands  out  with  increasing  clearness  against  the  rest  of  nat- 
ure, and  becomes  a  more  and  more  precious  possession,  as 
it  expresses  a  higher  psychical  life. 

The  Element  of  Individuality  in  Persons. — The  imper- 
fection of  this  statement  of  the  case  is  evident  at  a  glance, 
and  yet  it  is  about  all  that  sociology  has  had  to  say  with 
reference  to  the  individual  person.  It  is  very  well  to 
glorify  personality,  and  the  worth  of  personality  ;  but,  one 
cannot  help  asking,  does  this  worth  really  lie  in  sharing 
the  life  of  other  people,  and  in  nothing  else  ?  Persons  are 
first  individuals,  and  we  are  wont  to  prize  rather  highly 
this  difference  from  everybody  else.  In  reality  this  is  only 
an  antithesis  between  partial  knowledge  as  to  the  meaning 
of  dependence  on  society,  and  a  partially  developed  feeling 
of  the  value  of  individuality;  a  clew  to  its  solution  is  at 
hand  in  the  fact  that  the  individual  is  a  member  of  numer- 
ous social  groups.  He  never  expresses  the  life  of  any  sin- 
gle group  perfectly,  for  the  very  reason  that  he  is  more 
than  a  member  of  this  group.  Pride  in  being  different 
from  other  people  is  a  very  empty  matter  indeed,  unless 
this  difference  consists  in  sharing  some  element  of  psychi- 
cal life  not  so  fully  shared  by  one's  companions.  Differ- 
entiated personalities  are  the  counterpart  of  differentiated 
society  ;  each  presupposes  the  other,  for  they  are  but  two 
sides  of  the  same  thing. 

Individuality  of  Persons  and  Complexity  of  Society. — 
The  simplest  evidence  in  favor  of  this  account  of  individual 
personality  is  to  be  found  in  the  familiar  fact  that,  as  a 
matter  of  history,  the  differentiation  of  individuals  does 
keep  pace  with  the  growing  complexity  of  social  life. 
When  the  scientific  imagination  constructs  out  of  the  ma- 
terials at  hand  a  picture  of  the  earliest  social  group  it  is 
obliged  to  tnink  of  this  group  as  theoretically  homogeneous. 
If  it  is  really  a  human  group,  a  degree  of  psychical  life  is 
present ;  this,  however,  is  shared  by  all,  and  the  only  dif- 


THE  INDIVIDUAL   FOR  SOCIOLOGY  213 

ference  between  these  incipient  persons  will  be  at  bottom 
a  physical  difference.  The  history  of  progress  is  a  story 
of  differentiation  of  function,  and  corresponding  differen- 
tiation of  social  groups.  The  subjugation  of  a  second 
group  introduces  a  difference  of  rank  ;  the  separation  be- 
tween the  inner  family  and  the  larger  family  or  tribe  is  the 
germ  of  a  twofold  position  of  each  individual  in  society. 
As  soon  as  church  and  state,  religious  and  political  life  are 
in  any  degree  distinct,  another  mode  of  activity  becomes 
to  this  degree  independent,  and  the  individual  may  take 
his  place  in  a  new  set  of  institutions. — So  long  as  each  so- 
cial class  enters  as  a  whole  into  the  new  forms  of  social 
activity,  the  only  perceptible  change  may  be  a  tightening 
of  the  bonds  which  unite  this  class,  and  it  is  impossible 
for  a  man  to  gain  in  individuality  by  sharing  in  the  life  of 
several  distinct  social  groups.  Historically,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  determine  the  causes  which  led  to  the  overthrow 
of  fixed  social  classes,  nor  is  the  process  by  any  means  com- 
plete. Sometimes  the  prolonged  conflict  of  parties  or 
states  that  were  nearly  equal  in  strength  has  led  to  a  dis- 
solution and  recrystallization  of  political  forces  ;  sometimes 
a  new  force  seems  to  be  introduced  into  the  social  world, 
as  when  new  machinery  and  new  sources  of  power  were 
applied  to  the  textile  industries  a  century  ago,  and  in  the 
face  of  this  new  fact  old  classes  give  way,  and  new  ones  are 
formed.  In  one  way  and  another  the  separation  of  the 
different  modes  of  social  activity  becomes  real,  and  not 
merely  formal ;  new  institutions  and  distinct  classes  arise 
in  each  separate  mode  of  activity,  and  individual  persons 
can  no  longer  be  alike,  because  no  one  occupies  exactly  the 
same  position  as  any  other  one  in  the  social  world.  A 
comparison  of  different  countries  shows  at  a  glance  that 
members  of  a  given  class  differ  most  widely  where  the  va- 
rious modes  of  social  activity  are  most  widely  differentiated  ; 
they  differ  less  and  less  in  the  lower  stages  of  civilization 
now  known  to  us,  where  the  modes  of  activity  are  not 
clearly  distinguished. 


214  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

If  the  phenomenon  of  individuality  is  connected  with 
the  separation  of  the  modes  of  social  activity,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  notice  the  form  in  which  this  separation  arises. 
When  the  separation  is  real,  and  not  merely  formal,  each 
mode  of  activity  gives  rise  to  a  distinct  class  of  men  who 
are  bound  together  by  their  common  function.  The 
groups  of  men  engaged  in  different  functions  cross  and 
recross ;  to-day  they  are  rarely  identical  in  any  two  cases. 
It  would  be  absurd  enough  to  regard  such  complexity  of 
society  as  an  end  in  itself.  Still,  it  is  evident  that  the 
richness  of  society  must  depend  in  large  measure  on  the 
number  of  these  groups,  each  the  bearer  of  a  distinct  psy- 
chical life,  which  intersect  each  other.  The  interaction 
of  these  types  of  culture  broadens  each  one  and  stimulates 
its  development.  In  this  atmosphere  individuality  and 
personality  arise  together. 

Individuality  of  Environment. — Individual  personality 
corresponds  to  peculiarity  of  environment.  The  groups 
engaged  in  different  functions,  which  cross  and  recross, 
cross  in  the  person  of  an  individual.  The  same  man  is  in 
one  group  from  the  stand-point  of  production,  in  another 
from  that  of  consumption.  His  intellectual,  religious, 
political  life,  differ  in  important  particulars  from  that  of 
any  one  of  his  companions  in  the  factory ;  and  the  first 
reason  is  that  he  belongs  to  intellectual  and  political  groups 
more  or  less  different  from  those  to  which  they  may  belong. 
His  present  and  his  past  environment  is  peculiar  to  him- 
self ;  his  life  as  a  psychical  person  is  even  more  individual 
than  his  life  as  a  human  animal,  because  to-day  his  psychi- 
cal environment  is  so  different  from  that  of  any  one  else. 
The  individualism  of  the  present  generation  means  just 
this,  that  no  man  is  bound  by  the  traditions  of  any  one 
class,  but  that  influences  from  widely  divergent  sources 
unite  to  make  him  what  he  is.  To-day  the  walls  which 
have  separated  different  civilizations  have  been  broken 
down.  There  is  but  one  psychical  world,  and  its  parts  are 
so  intimately  connected  that  the  results  of  a  very  local 
change  are  felt  in  distant  parts.  Tracing  out  the  forces  of 


THE  INDIVIDUAL  FOR  SOCIOLOGY  215 

history,  each  thinker  is  led  to  believe  that  all  those  forces 
converge  upon  himself.  In  fact  this  is  coming  to  be  in 
large  measure  true.  The  widening  currents  of  psychical 
life  are  bringing  each  a  more  definite  and  more  distinct  in- 
fluence on  persons,  and,  in  consequence,  individual  charac- 
teristics are  developed  with  increasing  clearness.  Persons 
cannot  be  alike,  for  no  two  have  the  same  environment. 

The  Individual  Personality. — In  this  individual  envi- 
ronment individual  personality  is  of  necessity  developed. 
And  yet  this  is  a  very  defective  statement  of  the  case,  for 
environment  is  a  biological  metaphor,  and  it  introduces 
perhaps  as  much  error  as  truth  into  the  present  discussion. 
Properly  speaking,  the  person  is  not  "environed  "  by  psy- 
chical life  ;  his  very  personality  consists  in  sharing  the  psy- 
chical life  of  the  community.  Psychical  forces  may,  in- 
deed, affect  him  as  external  influences,  but  the  development 
of  personal  individuality  is  due  not  so  much  to  such  external 
influences  as  to  the  forces  which  reveal  themselves  through 
the  individual  as  the  centre  of  consciousness  and  of  activity. 
It  is  the  glory  of  personality  that  the  psychical  life  of  the 
past  and  of  the  present  finds  its  true  and  adequate  expres- 
sion through  the  individual,  and  may  be  advanced  to  a 
higher  degree  of  perfection  through  him.  "  History,"  it 
was  said  truly,  "finds  its  goal  in  each  person."  This  does 
not  mean  that  all  men  will  possess  the  same  degree  of  psy- 
chical life  and  power.  Necessarily,  the  life  of  the  past  and 
of  the  present,  in  making  men  different,  will  furnish  some 
with  peculiar  richness  and  power.  Such  men  can  go  for- 
ward only  in  the  spirit  of  their  age,  but  a  unique  develop- 
ment of  intellectual  and  spiritual  power  enables  them  to 
advance  far  beyond  their  fellows.  Such  is  individual  per- 
sonality from  the  stand-point  of  sociology  :  the  psychical 
life  of  the  ages  coming  to  expression  in  the  individual 
centre  of  consciousness  and  of  activity. 

The  Individual  and  Social  Progress. — A  reference  to 
the  share  of  the  individual  in  social  progress  will  make  a 
fitting  link  between  the  first  and  the  second  parts  of  the 
present  discussion.  The  art  of  history-writing  has  largely 


216  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

dealt  in  discussion  of  the  principal  characters,  to  whose 
influence  the  rise  or  downfall  of  nations  and  their  culture 
is  attributed.  We  seem  to  see  progress  starting  from  in- 
dividuals as  centres,  and  gradually  extending  through  the 
masses  of  the  people.  Eeal  changes  in  the  life  of  a  people 
may  often  be  overlooked  by  those  whose  interest  is  ab- 
sorbed by  the  quarrels  of  kings ;  leaders  of  new  movements 
may  attract  our  attention  away  from  the  life  which  pro- 
duced such  leaders  ;  the  truth  of  the  common  position  still 
holds  good.  Progress  does  proceed  from  individuals.  The 
age  produces  a  better  man,  and  he  makes  a  new  age.  The 
first  part  of  the  process  is  what  has  just  been  described  in 
the  preceding  paragraph.  Psychical  forces  of  the  past  and 
of  the  present  centre  upon  an  individual,  and  he  is  en- 
dowed with  the  qualities  of  a  leader.  New  truth  opens  to 
his  keener  vision  ;  new  possibilities  of  life  appear  in  re- 
sponse to  his  quick  sympathies  and  pure  ideals.  Looking 
back,  we  say  of  him :  He  lived  before  his  time.  Such 
leaders  are  the  statesmen  who  see  a  broader  political  life 
as  possible  for  the  state,  and  who  have  the  courage  to  strive 
for  this  ideal.  To  such  men  are  due  lasting  reforms  in 
religion  and  morals.  Progress  in  science  and  philosophy 
lies  in  their  hands.  They  are  the  true  prophets,  stoned 
probably  by  their  own  age,  because  they  were  not  content 
with  it,  honored  by  the  later  ages  to  which,  in  spirit,  they 
belonged.  The  other  half  of  progress  is  from  such  centres 
outward.  The  power  of  a  large  personality,  the  truth  and 
the  sympathy  which  such  a  personality  brings  with  it,  win 
adherents ;  new  social  activities  and  a  new  class  centre 
about  such  a  prophet.  Great  men  cannot  be  made,  but 
their  lessons  can  be  taught,  and  for  this  second  half  of 
progress,  for  education,  each  age  may  hold  itself  responsi- 
ble. It  is  the  task  of  education  to  communicate,  not 
merely  the  truth  as  cold  fact,  but  also  the  psychical  life  in 
which  truth  and  the  ideal  are  realized.  By  such  educa- 
tion the  fruits  of  progress  are  diffused,  and  the  seed  is 
sown  for  still  further  advance  in  the  future. 


PAET  III 

SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

CHAPTER  XII 

EXTERNAL  DESCRIPTION   OF   SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Introduction  to  the  Third  Part  ;  Social  Development. 

I.  The  Continuity  of  Social  Life.    Continuity  from  the  Physical  Stand- 

point— Continuity  of  Social  Life  and  Social  Groups ;  of  Institu- 
tions— The  Generation  of  Psychical  Life — Continuity  and  Change 
Social  Development  from  the  Stand-point  of  a  Supposed  Goal. 

II.  Increasing  Unity  and  Complexity  of  Social  Life.     Mr.  Spencer's 
Law  of  Progress — Physical  Side  of  Social  Development — General 
Character  of  the  Early  Social  Group — Fundamental  Forms  of  So- 
cial Activity  become  Distinct— The  Simple  Economic  Group — Be- 
ginning of  Separate  Economic  Functions  and  Classes — Results  of 
the  more  Complex  Economic  Activity — Continuation  of  this  Process 
at  the  Present  Time — Political  Activity  becomes  Broader  and  More 
Complex— Increasing  Complexity  and  Unity  in  other  lines. 

Social  Development. — The  first  work  of  sociology  is  to 
make  an  analysis  of  social  life  as  it  exists  to-day,  in  order 
to  ascertain  the  factors  entering  into  this  life,  and  the 
laws  which  govern  the  relation  of  these  factors ;  but  in 
the  effort  to  accomplish  this,  our  attention  has  constantly 
been  turned  to  the  process  by  which  these  factors  and  these 
laws  arose.  While  it  has  thus  been  impossible  to  draw  any 
sharp  line  between  the  different  parts  of  the  study  of  society, 
the  general  description  of  social  development  and  the  more 
detailed  examination  of  the  processes  of  development  have 
been  postponed  until  the  discussion  of  existing  social  life 
had  been  completed.  The  present  chapter,  which  aims  to 

217 


218  INTRODUCTION   TO    SOCIOLOGY 

give  an  external  account  of  social  development,  falls  into 
two  divisions :  the  first  part  (a)  deals  with  the  continuity 
of  social  development,  and  the  second  (b)  with  the  unifica- 
tion of  social  life,  attended  by  differentiation  of  the  social 

elements. 

f 

I.  THE  CONTINUITY  OF  SOCIAL  LIFE 

Continuity  from  the  Physical  Stand-point. — From  the 
physical  stand-point  all  nature  is  a  single  multiform  process 
which  may  be  explained  in  terms  of  the  universal  laws  of  me- 
chanics. The  present  is  the  outcome  of  the  past  and  the 
source  of  the  future,  because  each  present  is  but  a  stadium 
arbitrarily  fixed  in  the  single  process  which  we  know  as  the 
world.  Human  life  is  one  part  of  this  process.  After  this 
part  has  been  isolated  from  the  rest,  it  still  has  a  physical 
continuity  and  a  physical  unity,  for  each  human  being  is  a 
child  and  may  become  a  parent,  and  it  is  only  necessary  to 
follow  this  thread  back  or  forward  a  little  way,  in  order  to 
see  that  the  individual  is  linked  with  an  indefinite  number  of 
others.1  But  while  the  continuity  of  social  life  presupposes 
this  physical  basis,  it  is  by  no  means  identical  with  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  human  race.  It  is  rather  a  series  of  proc- 
esses, each  continuous,  which  may  have  had  various  begin- 
nings, and  which  are  only  gradually  being  blended  into 
one.  Again,  the  physical  unity  of  a  race  is  largely  due 
to  a  brief  connection  of  children  with  parents,  so  that  most 
of  the  race  become  quite  independent  of  each  other.  The 
bond  which  unites  the  members  of  a  society  in  their  com- 
mon life  is  never  severed,  and  the  broken  process  of  chang- 
ing human  lives  does  not  prevent  the  real  continuity  of 
social  life. 

Continuity  of  Social  Life  and  Social  Groups. — It  is  an 

old  saying  that  the  king  never  dies,  which  means  nothing 

more  or  less  than  that  the  nation  does  not  die.     Citizens 

change,  but  the  state  lives  on,  and  the  change  of  those 

1  Dumont,  Depopulation  et  civilisation,  p.  391,  sqq. 


DESCRIPTION   OF   SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT        219 

who  compose  it  is  the  very  principle  of  its  progressive  de- 
velopment. The  nation's  vigor  may  degenerate,  its  cult- 
ure may  be  absorbed  into  that  of  a  more  powerful  people 
— its  life  receives  a  new  form,  but  it  does  not  die.  After 
the  most  complete  destruction  which  we  can  conceive,  the 
influence  of  the  state  that  has  been  destroyed  can  still 
be  traced  in  a  transformation  of  the  forces  that  survive. 
It  is  doubtless  part  of  the  mythology  which  has  been  sug- 
gested by  the  phrase  "social  organism/'  when  we  are  told 
that  the  social  group  is  born,  grows  up,  and  at  length  de- 
cays and  dies.  But  the  simple  fact  that  the  present  is  the 
product  of  the  past  in  the  psychical  world  as  in  the  physi- 
cal world,  is  the  key  to  an  understanding  of  past  progress 
and  a  basis  for  judging  present  movements. 

Continuity  of  Institutions. — The  continuity  of  social 
life  manifests  itself  first  in  the  continuity  of  social  institu- 
tions. PsychicaLlife  depends  on  institutions  as  a  sort  of 
skeleton  or  framework,  and  it  is  no  more  possible  to  pro- 
duce these  all  at  once,  and  from  outside,  than  to  make 
the  body  of  an  animal.  They  are  the  product  of  a  course  of 
development,  and  they  serve  their  purpose  only  because 
they  have  gradually  acquired  a  considerable  degree  of  re- 
sistance, to  change.  -This  framework  for  the  higher  life 
to-day  is  an  inheritance  ;  the  continuity  of  institutions 
is  the  basis  of  advancement.  The  fact  that  institutions 
continue  from  age  to  age  may  be  illustrated  in  any  sphere 
of  life.  In  the  religious  life,  the  object  with  which  one 
age  and  people  have  associated  the  idea  of  God.  continues  to 
be  divine  for  the  succeeding  age  ;  the  place  where  God  has 
appeared  is  the  place  where  he  may  be  expected  to  appear  ; 
sacrifice  and  other  forms  of  cultus  owe  their  sanctity  and 
potency  to  an  accumulated  reverence  —  they  are  the  ap- 
proved waysj)f  seeking  the  gods ;  the  priest  is  a  sacred 
man,  TJecausehis  predecessors  have  acquired  the  power  or 
the  right  to  stand  between  the  people  and  their  god ;  re- 
ligious authority  is  simply  the  habit  of  obedience  passed  on 
from  generation  to  generation,  till  it  has  entered  into  the 


220  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

life  of  the  people.  The  economic  institutions  of  property, 
of  money,  of  banks  and  factories,  are  the  product  of  the 
experience  of  many  ages  ;  they  possess  a  recognized  author- 
ity, and  they  serve  their  purpose  as  the  framework  of  eco- 
nomic life,  because  they  have  their  sources  in  the  distant 
past  and  can  be  modified  only  gradually.  Language-is 
such  an  institution  that  is  not  made,  but  grows  ;  such  are 
the  methods  and  principles  of  science,  and  the  ideals  of  the 
moral  life ;  they  live  on  from  age  to  age,  and  the  power 
which  they  acquire  is  based  on  their  continuity.  The  state 
and  the  family  are  institutions  that  have  very  slowly  shaped 
themselves  in  the  life  of  the  race  ;  the  authority  and  the 
freedom  which  each  makes  possible  are  no  modern  acquisi- 
tion, but  rather  the  slowly  accumulated  products  of  the 
ages  brought  to  bear  on  the  life  of  to-day.  Social  'institu- 
tions in  general  dominate  us  as  the  habit  of  a  lifetime 
dominates  an  old  man,  only  that  their  power  is  greater  than 
that  of  any  individual  habit,  for  they  come  to  us  as  habits 
of  the  race.  This  principle  of  continuous  development  in 
institutions  must  not  be  regarded  as  external  to  the  nature 
of  an  institution  as  such  ;  it  is  merely  the  external  side  of 
the  fundamental  truth  that  society  is  an  evolution,  "that 
new  forms  of  life  are  produced  out  of  lower  forms,  that 
progress  is  out  of  the  past  even  when  it  seems  to  contra- 
dict the  past. 

The  Generation  of  Psychical  Life. — But  the  continuity 
of  social  life  means  more  than  the  fact  that  institutions 
pass  on  from  age  to  age,  and  that  the  external  forms  of  life 
are  not  subject  to  sudden  change.  It  means  also  that  the 
life  which  uses  these  forms,  and  grows  upon  the  skeleton 
of  these  institutions,  is  itself  in  a  real  sense  continuous. 
Psychical  life  is  not  a  product  spontaneously  arising  in  each 
individual,  but  it  is  stimulated  in  the  individual  by  per- 
sonal contact  with  others  in  social  life.  In  the  family,  the 
school,  the  church,  there  is  constantly  going  on  the  pro- 
cess of  the  generation  of  psychical  life.  The  teacher  finds 
his  stimulus  in  the  never-dying  power  of  masters  who  may 


DESCRIPTION   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT        221 

have  lived  centuries  ago,  and  he  quickens  in  his  pupils  the 
aspirations  and  energies  which  will  make  themselves  felt 
when  the  pupils  take  their  place  in  the  world.  Not  simply 
the  forms  of  life,  but  the  energy — the  life  which  uses  these 
forms — has  its  sources  in  the  far  distant  past.  It  increases 
and  degenerates,  its  currents  separate  or  come  together,  it 
finds  men  whose  physical  nature  hinders  or  favors  its  de- 
velopment, but  it  is  never  created  ex  nihilo.  Correlative 
to  this  last  statement  is  the  fact  that  psychical  life  does 
not  lose  its  power.  From  the  present  stand-point,  the  law 
of  its  progress  may  almost  be  described  as  progress  by 
multifold  effect,  /for  psychical  life  is  not  exhausted  by  gen- 
erating similar  life  in  others,  but  it  even  gains  in  power 
by  this  process.  The  achievements  of  the  past  in  art, 
in  philosophy,  in  religion,  are  ever  new  ;  age  after  age 
derives  its  inspiration  from  them,  and  the  truly  great 
productions  of  the  Hebrews,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  gain 
new  mastery  over  us  as  we  study  them  with  truer  appre- 
ciation. 

Continuity  and  Change. — The  comparison  of  society 
with  the  organism  of  biology  has  led  observers  to  expect 
that  society  will  follow  a  fixed  course  of  development  with 
periodic  changes,  as  does  the  organism.  But  society  is 
not  an  organism,  and  along  with  the  continuity  of  its  life 
there  is  an  absence  of  rigidity,  which  is  very  important  for 
its  progressive  development.  If  the  organism  were  able 
from  time  to  time  to  substitute  an  organ  of  more  youthful 
character  for  one  that  had  grown  old  and  to  keep  up  this 
process  until  the  whole  body  were  renewed,  it  would  escape 
the  necessity  of  growing  old  and  dying  ;  and  if  it  could  at 
the  same  time  preserve  the  experience  of  the  displaced  or- 
gans for  the  benefit  of  the  more  youthful  organs  that  suc- 
ceeded them,  it  would  embody  a  principle  of  genuine  and 
almost  unlimited  progress.  What  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  biological  organism  is  for  it  impossible,  is  both  possi- 
ble and  a  fact  in  the  social  organization.  In  the  life  of 
a  society  new  units  are  substituted  for  those  that  have 


222  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

grown  old,  and  normally  the  process  goes  on  so  gradually 
that  the  experience  of  the  past  may  serve  as  the  basis  of 
future  development.  The  young  persons  of  each  new 
generation  are  plastic  material  which  may  be  moulded  in 
harmony  with  the  higher  ideals  of  the  former  age,  while  at 
the  same  time  they  do  not  hesitate  to  adopt  new  practices 
and  to  champion  new  ideas  ;  i.e.,  the  shortness  of  human 
life  is  the  principle  of  change,  which,  when  combined  with 
the  principle  of  continuity,  is  the  basis  of  social  progress. 
The  new  world  of  the  generation  that  succeeds  us  is  no 
mere  copy  of  our  world,  but  the  living  continuation  of  it. 

It  has  often  been  customary  to  limit  the  process  here  sug- 
gested, and  to  treat  the  continuity  of  society  as  the  partial 
realization  of  an  absolute  ideal.  Just  as  we  may  regard  in- 
creasing knowledge  as  the  gradual  conquest  of  a  world  known 
as  the  realm  of  truth,  so  the  continuity  of  institutions  may 
be  treated  as  the  growing  harmony  of  society  with  an  ex- 
ternal perfect  law,  and  the  continuity  of  life  as  the  gradual 
embodiment  in  humanity  of  a  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Some 
such  position  is  natural,  because  human  reason  ever  asserts  a 
kind  of  independence  from  time  and  space,  and  seeks  to  lend 
eternal  universal  validity  both  to  the  knowledge  it  acquires, 
and  to  the  habits  of  action  it  develops.  While  this  eternal 
and  universal  validity  may  be  a  natural  postulate  in  behalf  of 
our  knowledge,  the  position  is  by  no  means  so  clear  and  un- 
avoidable as  it  may  appear  at  first  sight.  In  fact,  each  addi- 
tion to  our  knowledge  affects  our  attitude  toward  all  the 
things  known  before,  so  that  former  knowledge  is  shifted,  be 
it  ever  so  slightly,  from  perfect  agreement  with  the  facts.  We 
do  lend  a  universal  validity  to  knowledge,  in  so  far  as  it  is 
perfect  from  our  stand-point,  but  the  ideal  of  absolute  knowl- 
edge is,  in  reality,  an  ever-advancing  goal,  and  no  present  fact. 
So  we  regard  institxitions  as  forms  of  life  which  gradually  are 
realizing  a  final  perfect  type,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  per- 
fect type  is  a  Utopia  which  changes  with  every  age.  When 
the  student  treats  this  habit  of  human  reason  as  an  absolute 
fact,  and  finds  the  unity  of  social  development  only  in  an  ex- 
ternal world,  he  has  left  the  field  of  science  for  that  of  meta- 
physics or  of  faith.  The  scientific  study  of  society  finds  society 


DESCRIPTION   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT        223 

to  be  a  developing  process,  continuous  in  its  institutions  and 
in  its  life. 

NOTE  ON  SOCIAL  REFORM. — It  is  hardly  necessary  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  present  discussion  has  a  very 
important  bearing  on  the  matter  of  social  reform.  The  doc- 
trine here  stated  should  not,  of  course,  be  understood  as  deny- 
ing the  reality  of  revolutions  both  in  public  sentiment  and  in 
the  forms  of  social  organization.  It  does  say  that  revolu- 
tions have  their  roots  in  the  past,  that  they  are  the  product  of 
a  long  period  in  preparation,  and  are  not  manufactured  to 
order.  The  consideration  of  this  topic  shows  the  utter  absur- 
dity of  all  schemes  to  introduce  a  new  social  order  on  short 
notice,  and  by  purely  external  methods.  At  the  same  time,  it 
shows  that  the  effort  to  set  true  and  high  ideals  before  the 
world  cannot  fail  to  produce  its  effects  in  time. 

II.   INCREASING  UNITY  AND   COMPLEXITY    OF   SOCIAL 

LIFE 

Mr.  Spencer's  Law  of  Progress. — In  an  Essay  entitled 
"  Progress  :  its  Law  and  Cause/'  Mr.  Spencer  asserts  that 
the  essence  of  progress  consists  in  the  transformation  of 
the  homogeneous  into  the  heterogeneous,  and  he  goes  so 
far  as  to  call  this  the  law  of  progress.  As  the  solar  system 
was  once  a  homogeneous  mass  of  gaseous  matter,  but  now 
has  become  a  highly  complex  system  of  sun,  planets,  and 
satellites  ;  as  the  earth  was  once  a  fluid  body,  homogeneous 
throughout,  but  has  gradually  developed  a  very  complex 
crust  with  its  various  rocks  and  their  strata,  its  mountains 
and  ocean  beds ;  so,  we  are  told,  mankind  and  its  civiliza- 
tion have  been  passing  from  a  homogeneous  to  a  hetero- 
geneous state — and  this  is  progress.  The  phrase  "homo- 
geneous to  heterogeneous "  is  evidently  taken  from  some 
other  sphere  than  the  social,  and  in  its  application  to  the 
higher  life  of  man  its  meaning  is  not  at  all  the  same  as 
when  it  is  used  to  describe  physical  nature ;  nevertheless, 
it  is  clear  that  the  fact  referred  to  is  a  most  striking 
feature  of  human  progress.  To  call  this  the  "  law  "  of 
social  progress  is  a  very  loose  use  of  words,  for  it  is  nothing 


224  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

more  than  an  external  description  of  a  feature  common  to 
all  forms  of  development.  To  state  the  fact  more  exactly, 
as  society  develops,  the  forms  of  social  activity  and  the 
groups  engaged  in  these  activities  become  more  distinct, 
and  separate  simple  social  groups  become  united  in  a  very 
complex  form  of  society.  The  objections  which  hold  good 
against  Mr.  Spencer's  position  are  at  once  avoided  by  a 
more  careful  statement  of  the  case. 

Physical  Side  of  Social  Development. — In  the  earliest 
state  of  society  that  we  can  picture  to  ourselves,  men  lived 
in  small  tribes  or  "hordes,"  which  had  but  little  to  do  with 
each  other.  These  tribes  were  small,  because  no  principle 
of  common  life  had  been  developed  to  unite  more  than  the 
few  individuals  who  clung  together  for  mutual  protection  ; 
they  were  practically  independent  of  each  other,  for  no  in- 
terest extended  beyond  one  tribe  to  connect  it  with  another. 
From  a  physical  stand-point,  social  activity  consisted  in  a 
struggle  with  nature,  and  a  struggle  with  similar  tribes. 
In  this  struggle  one  tribe  would  go  under,  and  another  in- 
crease in  size  until  it  split ;  the  only  real  change  would  be 
introduced  when  one  tribe  became  strong  enough  and  far- 
sighted  enough  to  bring  another  tribe  into  permanent  sub- 
jection to  itself.  The  new  unit  came  to  include  several 
smaller  groups,  and  the  original  elements  acquired  different 
functions  in  relation  to  the  newly  formed  whole.  Turning 
from  the  beginnings  of  society  to  the  European  civilization 
of  to-day,  we  see  the  same  process  at  a  far  more  advanced 
stage.  Practically  there  are  but  seven  or  eight  peoples  in 
Europe  to-day,  and  the  common  life  of  these  peoples  is 
more  important  than  their  separate  life.  Along  with  this 
integration  social  functions  have  become  distinct  and  sepa- 
rate, and  there  is  hardly  any  limit  to  the  number  of  social 
groups  which  have  arisen  in  this  complex  society  to  per- 
form these  functions. 

General  Character  of  the  Early  Social  Group.— Consid- 
ering the  different  modes  of  social  activity  in  their  relation 
to  each  other,  we  find  that  in  early  times  they  were  all  but 


DESCRIPTION   OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT        225 

identical.  A  later  age  says  that  in  the  patriarchal  family 
the  father  was  farmer  and  manufacturer,  judge,  king,  and 
priest ;  the  fact  is,  that  all  these  functions  originally  are 
united  in  each  person  and  in  each  group,  because  they  do 
not  yet  exist  as  separate  functions.  So  long  as  there  is 
practically  but  one  uniform  type  of  social  activity,  there  is 
no  social  influence  to  make  the  members  of  the  group  dif- 
ferent from  each  other.  Each  person  is  like  every  other, 
joining  in  the  hunt,  seeking  for  food,  making  his  hut  or  his 
weapon — and  the  only  differences  are  due  to  difference  of 
sex  or  of  strength.  The  early  group  or  "  horde  "  lacked 
both  definiteness  and  compact  unity,  and  the  groups  dif- 
fered from  each  other  only  with  the  different  demands  of 
their  physical  environment. 

Fundamental  Forms  of  Social  Activity  become  Distinct. 
— Increasing  social  complexity  may  be  considered  from 
two  stand-points  : — (a)  The  fundamental  forms  of  social  ac- 
tivity become  distinct,  thus  introducing  a  more  extensive 
and  more  complex  social  structure,  and  (b)  simultaneously 
within  each  of  these  general  modes  of  activity,  greater  com- 
plexity of  function  and  structure  is  arising.  The  search 
for  food  and  the  effort  for  protection  become  distinctly 
organized  forms  of  activity,  and  the  tribe  assumes  a  defi- 
nite structure  with  reference  to  each  of  them.  Forms  of 
social  intercourse  become  fixed,  the  habit  of  respecting 
rights  and  enforcing  rights  arises,  the  need  of  protection 
against  supernatural  evils,  and  of  communion  with  super- 
natural beings,  leads  to  a  distinctly  religious  activity  ;  and 
with  each  new  form  of  social  activity  the  structure  of  so- 
ciety becomes  more  complex,  and  the  dependence  of  one 
part  upon  another  more  intimate.  While  this  change  is 
often  so  gradual  as  to  show  no  break,  in  many  cases  its 
results  do  seem  to  enter  suddenly ;  as,  for  instance,  when 
the  introduction  of  slavery  constituted  for  the  first  time  a 
distinct  industrial  organization.  From  the  second  stand- 
point, the  growth  of  social  complexity  and  unity  is  even 
more  striking.  Men  have  always  needed  food,  companion- 


226  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

ship,  protection  ;  but  the  ways  in  which  they  have  met 
these  needs  have  varied  exceedingly  from  age  to  age.  The 
changes  in  the  economic  world,  to  take  a  typical  example, 
show  most  clearly  the  differentiation  and  integration  which 
are  the  outward  mark  of  development. 

The  Simple  Economic  Group. — In  the  lower  and  earlier 
phases  of  society  the  need  of  food  and  of  clothing  is  satis- 
fied in  the  simplest  manner  by  the  means  which  nature 
provides,  and  no  desires  are  as  yet  developed  which  reach 
out  beyond  the  clan  or  "horde."  Each  group  supplied  its 
own  needs  ;  all  the  members  helped  to  build  the  huts  which 
were  to  protect  them  from  rain  and  cold,  all  worked  to- 
gether to  secure  weapons  and  tools,  all  shared  the  prod- 
uct of  the  common  chase.  The  industrial  life  of  one 
such  little  group  would  be  much  like  that  of  another,  and 
within  the  group  individuals  would  be  very  much  alike, 
for  even  differences  of  sex  could  not  yet  lead  to  a  uni- 
formly different  industrial  life. 

Beginning  of  Separate  Economic  Functions  and  Classes. 
— Economic  development  began  with  the  separation  of 
economic  activities,  and  we  may  point  out  three  sources 
from  which  this  sprang,  viz.:  (a)  the  difference  between 
the  strong  and  the  skilled  ;  (b)  difference  between  the 
sexes;  and  (c)  differences  introduced  by  a  new  form  of 
political  organization,  in  particular,  slavery. 

1.  The  simple  utensils  of  savage  life  required  for  their 
manufacture  no  skill  which  was  beyond  the  reach  of  any- 
one, and  conversely,  no  utensil  requiring  special  skill  could 
come  into  general  use  until  some  tribe  was  ready  to  support 
a  class  of  toolmakers  who  should  acquire  and  preserve  this 
skill.  The  bow  and  arrow,  or  the  canoe,  could  be  made 
better  when  hunter  and  fisherman  were  ready  to  maintain 
someone  who  should  devote  himself  to  this  work.  Pottery, 
blankets,  elaborate  decorations,  were  not  likely  to  attain 
any  special  degree  of  excellence  until  individuals  could 
give  their  whole  strength  to  particular  forms  of  manu- 
facture. In  so  far  as  the  division  of  labor  proved  an  ad- 


DESCRIPTION  OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT        227 

vantage  in  meeting  men's  desires,  or  in  making  the  tribe 
stronger  to  divert  attack,  the  habit  would  tend  to  become 
permanent  and  widespread — classes  of  manufacturers  and 
of  food-producers  would  arise ;  a  market  would  become 
necessary  for  the  exchange  of  wares,  and  at  length  the 
growing  business  of  exchange  would  call  for  a  class  of 
merchants,  and  a  class  of  exporters.  Division  of  labor 
tends  to  emphasize  the  differences  of  strength  and  of  skill 
to  which  it  was  originally  due ;  and  as  it  becomes  a 
necessity,  the  industrial  group  must  grow  larger  and 
more  complex,  in  order  that  the  simplest  needs  may  be 
satisfied. 

2.  The  differences  between  the  sexes  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  this  process  from  almost  the  very  begin- 
ning.    Women  could  be  compelled  to  work  long  before 
there  were  regular  slaves,  but  they  were  less  able  to  endure 
the  fatigues  of  war  and  the  chase.     The  advantages  of  this 
division  of  labor  were  so  apparent,  that  it  may  have  been 
an  important  factor  in  the  development  of  more  perma- 
nent family  relations.     The  general  line  of  division  was  be- 
tween the  outer  world,  and  the  inner  world  of  the  family 
which  began  to  be  formed.     To  the  man  fell  the  duties  of 
protection  from  attacks  of  man  and  beast,  and  the  procur- 
ing of  game  for  food.     The  work  of  the  home,  such  as  the 
preparation  of  food,  the  manufacture  of  garments,  care  for 
the  children,  the  provision  of  whatever  man  may  need  or 
desire,  this  was  commonly  the  woman's  lot.     This  source 
of  differentiation  was  no  less  important  than  the  preced- 
ing, in   providing  the  basis  for  a  higher  type  of  social 
organization. 

3.  The  connection  between  the  political  and  industrial 
organization  of  society  is  always  close,  but  under  primitive 
conditions  it  is  peculiarly  intimate.     The  preservation  of 
captives  taken  in  war  to  serve  as  slaves,  is  a  step  equally 
important  for  the  development  of  the  state  and  for  the 
development  of  industry.     By  the  use  of  slaves,  continu- 
ous labor  and  combined  labor  were  possible  for  the  first 


228 

time,  and  with  the  general  institution  of  slavery,  the  foun- 
dation was  laid  for  the  civilizations  of  antiquity.  This 
single  illustration  shows  how  a  separation  of  political  classes 
is  the  source  of  economic  complexity,  and  consequently  the 
cause  of  larger  economic  groups. 

Results  of  the  more  Complex  Economic  Activity. — The 
necessary  result  of  the  separation  of  industrial  activities  is 
a  more  complex  industrial  group.  Each  group  requires  all 
the  different  forms  of  production  to  satisfy  the  needs  and 
desires  of  its  members,  so  that  as  soon  as  these  forms  are 
separated  the  group  thereby  grows  more  complex.  Com- 
plexity means  the  possibility,  if  not  the  necessity,  of  more 
members  in  the  group  ;  the  new  form  of  industrial  life 
tends  to  bring  different  groups  together,  where  the  earlier 
form  had  tended  to  separate  them  ;  at  the  same  time  each 
group  follows  its  own  course  of  development,  so  that  any 
two  groups  are  far  less  likely  to  resemble  each  other  than 
were  two  of  the  earlier  simple  groups.  Moreover,  the  more 
complex  life  means  a  different  industrial  environment  for 
each  individual  in  the  group,  so  that  social  influences 
tended  to  make  men  different,  where  before  they  had  tended 
to  make  them  alike. 

Continuation  of  this  Process. — It  is  difficult  to  set  any 
limit  to  this  process  of  the  increasing  complexity  of  eco- 
nomic life  and  economic  structure ;  already  it  has  gone  so  far 
that  most  of  the  human  race  stand  in  some  sort  of  economic 
relation  with  each  other.  The  reason  of  this  process,  in 
which  any  backward  step  is  difficult,  is  twofold.  From  the 
stand-point  of  conscious  purpose  its  advantages  are  so  evi- 
dent as  to  enlist  in  its  favor  the  choice  of  thoughtful  men. 
But  evolution  would  be  a  slow  and  doubtful  matter  if  it 
were  left  to  thought  and  reasonable  choice  ;  the  results  of 
this  process  and  the  absolute  need  of  a  complex  economic 
organization,  become  embedded  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
individual,  so  that  he  devotes  himself  to  a  limited  sphere 
of  economic  activity,  without  conscious  recognition  of 
the  broader  reasons  for  this  course.  Economic  evolution 


DESCRIPTION   OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT       229 

has  always  been  marked  by  a  growing  complexity  and 
unity  of  economic  life;  but  even  when  dignified  by  the 
name  of  a  "  law  "  this  change  does  not  explain  economic 
progress. 

Political  Activity  becomes  Broader  and  more  Complex. 
— The  marks  of  social  evolution,  which  have  been  dis- 
cussed for  the  case  of  economic  activity,  are  none  the  less 
evident  in  the  other  modes  of  social  activity.  The  earliest 
political  organization  of  society  was  absolutely  simple  ;  and 
these  simple  political  units  were  small,  numerous,  and  in  the 
same  environment  very  much  alike.  In  the  course  of  politi- 
cal development  two  forms  of  growing  complexity  may  be 
distinguished.  In  the  first  place  the  state  becomes  compo- 
site. Smaller  centres  of  political  life  are  developed  within 
the  larger  whole  ;  and,  as  the  central  authority  is  relieved 
from  attention  to  detail,  it  can  perform  the  necessary  func- 
tions of  government  for  increasingly  large  bodies  of  men. 
Within  the  state  there  arise  the  province  and  the  county, 
the  town,  the  city,  and  the  wards  of  the  city  ;  or,  again,  it 
is  found  possible  to  unite  smaller  bodies  into  one  larger 
body  on  the  principle  which  we  have  learned  to  call  local 
self-government ;  the  result  in  either  case  is  a  separation 
of  political  functions,  and  an  integration  of  the  resulting 
political  groups  into  larger  and  larger  wholes.  And,  in  the 
second  place,  the  functions  of  the  central  governing  power 
are  separated,  and  the  executive  head  is  no  longer  clothed 
with  legislative  and  judiciary  powers.  In  consequence  of 
this  process  the  modern  state  is  a  very  complex  affair.  Few 
states  have  taken  the  place  of  numerous  tribes,  and  these 
states  show  marked  differences  from  each  other  as  the  re- 
sult of  different  lines  of  development. 

More  Complex  Intellectual  Life. — The  evolution  of  so- 
cial activity  in  sesthetic  lines  has  been  quite  fully  analyzed 
by  Mr.  Spencer  in  the  essay  to  which  reference  has  been 
made.1  The  aesthetic  enjoyment,  which  began  in  simple 
forms  with  narrow  range,  gradually  assumed  forms  more  and 
'Spencer:  Progress ;  its  Law  and  Cause,  pp.  239,  240. 


230  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

more  complex,  and  simultaneously  the  sphere  of  its  activity 
has  been  extending  indefinitely.  The  evolution  of  intellec- 
tual activity  has  left  its  traces  in  the  history  of  language. 
Under  primitive  conditions  each  group  has  its  own  simple 
language  suited  to  its  very  simple  needs.  So  far  as  these 
needs  were  the  same  for  different  tribes,  the  different  lan- 
guages would  have  about  the  same  structure  and  range ; 
they  were  very  much  alike,  in  that  they  served  the  same 
purposes  in  the  same  manner.  Social  evolution  brought 
about  a  more  complex  intellectual  life,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  tended  to  unite  different  groups  in  the  same  intel- 
lectual activity.  A  few  languages,  complex  and  unlike  in 
structure  and  range,  take  the  place  of  very  many  languages 
of  the  simplest  character  and  very  much  alike.  The  new 
language  is  formed  by  taking  up  into  itself  elements  from 
the  languages  which  it  supplants,  and  by  this  means  it 
is  able  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  higher  intellectual  life. 
The  same  rule  holds  for  every  form  of  social  activity — 
increasing  complexity  and  unity  are  the  mark  of  social 
evolution. 

Conclusion. — This  process  has  continued  until  its  results 
can  be  foreseen  in  clear  outline.  The  unity  of  mankind, 
which  was  once  a  prophetic  vision,  hidden  from  common 
eyes  and  accepted  only  upon  faith,  is  at  length  being  real- 
ized, as  the  most  remote  corners  of  the  earth  are  brought 
under  the  influence  of  one  civilization.  The  process  of 
integration  has  touched  every  race,  and  its  farther  advance 
will  be  toward  a  more  intensive  unity — a  more  intimate 
unity  of  peoples  already  in  contact.  The  result  of  greater 
complexity  is  an  increasingly  unique  environment  for  each 
individual  of  the  race,  and  every  considerable  advance  in 
social  evolution  is  marked  not  only  by  more  sharply  defined 
classes  engaged  in  the  different  forms  of  social  activity,  but 
also  by  more  distinct  individuality  among  the  members  of 
these  classes.  The  course  of  these  processes  is  by  no  means 
even  and  uninterrupted,  nor  can  we  say  as  yet  that  this 
course  coincides  exactly  with  the  different  stages  of  social 


DESCRIPTION   OF   SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT        231 

evolution.  It  remains  true  that  the  most  striking  char- 
acteristics of  social  evolution  are  the  facts  of  continuity, 
and  of  growing  unity  and  complexity ;  the  outcome  of 
these  processes  is  a  unified  mankind  made  up  of  unique 
individuals. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

PROCESSES  OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Two  Theories  of  Social  Development. — The  two  Processes  exist  side 
by  side. 

I.  Process  of  Dispersion  and  Differentiation.      1.  Race-increase — 

Centres  of  Dispersion — Differentiation  of  Physical  Types.  2. 
Differentiation  and  Dispersion  of  Forms  of  Psychical  Life,  (a) 
Language  :  Dispersion,  Differentiation,  (b)  Religion  :  Dispersion, 
Differentiation. 

II.  Process  of  Agglomeration.    Civilization  lessens  Number  of  Social 
Groups — Mr.  Spencer's  Classification  of  Different  Types  of  Social 
Aggregates — Statement  of  the  Process  of  Agglomeration.     1.  This 
Process  Regarded  from  its  Physical  Side— Persistence  of  Race- 
characteristics —  Unification  of   Culture.      2.  This   Process   Re- 
garded from  the  Psychical  Side — Language  and  Religion  as  Ex- 
amples of  this  Process — Fusion  of  Religious  Forms — Heteroge- 
neity the  Condition  of  Progress — Process  of  Agglomeration  and 
Assimilation — Conclusion. 

Two  Theories  of  Social  Development. — To  the  casual 
observer  of  society,  it  is  evident  that  social  development  is 
continuous,  and  that  society  tends  toward  a  state  of  greater 
complexity  with  larger  and  more  comprehensive  social 
groups.  But  if  we  would  look  below  the  surface,  and  seek 
a  more  definite  statement  of  the  actual  processes  in  this 
development,  we  are  met  at  the  outset  by  most  diverse 
views.  Many  of  these  are  purely  fantastic,  and  need  not 
detain  us,  but  after  such  have  been  set  aside,  there  remain 
two  theories  of  social  development,  almost  contradictory 
in  their  statement,  and  yet  each  claiming  the  support  of 
a  large  mass  of  facts.  On  the  one  hand,  there  is  the 
genealogical  theory  of  progress,  according  to  which  types 
of  culture  are  bred  and  scatter  in  the  world,  just  as  men 

232 


PROCESSES   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT  233 

are  born  and  disperse ;  science  has  the  interesting  task  of 
tracing  each  form  of  civilization  up  the  genealogical  tree  to 
the  common  source  of  all,  and  thus  the  history  of  civiliza- 
tion is  made  clear.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  theory1 
that  social  development  is  a  process  of  agglomeration  and 
assimilation,  such  that  each  step  in  progress  may  be  ex- 
plained as  the  interaction  of  heterogeneous  elements.  The 
consideration  of  these  two  views  will  lead  the  student,  I 
believe,  to  recognize  that  each  of  these  theories  is  concerned 
with  a  real  process  going  on  in  society,  but  that  neither 
deserves  the  name  of  the  "theory"  of  social  development. 

•f.  PROCESS  OF  DISPERSION  AND  DIFFERENTIATION 

i.  Race-increase. — Perhaps  the  most  natural  account  of 
the  development  of  society  would  explain  it  as  a  process  of 
dispersion  and  differentiation.  In  every  age  the  family, 
more  particularly  the  patriarchal  family,  has  traced  its  ori- 
gin to  some  one  ancestor,  and  his  blood  in  the  veins  of  many 
descendants  is  supposed  to  unite  them  into  one  group.  In 
this  fragment  of  society  it  is  seen  that  the  original  pair  has 
several  children  more  or  less  different,  and  that  each  of 
these  has  children  in  turn,  so  that  succeeding  generations 
increase  (theoretically)  in  a  geometrical  ratio,  and  peculiar 
characteristics  which  have  arisen  may  easily  be  perpetuated 
and  increased.  This  explanation  which  men  are  in  the 
habit  of  applying  to  a  small  portion  of  developing  society, 
may  also  be  applied  to  the  race  as  a  whole.  The  biblical 
account  of  creation  has  made  the  Christian  world  familiar 
with  the  conception  of  an  original  single  pair  from  whom 
all  men  are  descended.  Here,  as  in  the  example  on  a 
smaller  scale,  generations  theoretically  increase  in  a  geo- 
metrical ratio,  and  variations  from  the  original  type  are 
easily  perpetuated  and  increased. 

1  This  theory  is  presented  with  great  vigor,  and  enforced  with  much 
illustrative  material,  by  Gumplowicz,  both  in  his  Rassenkampf  and 
in  his  Grundnss  der  Soziologie.  The  latter  has  been  translated  into 
English  by  Dr.  Moore,  A  A.P  S  ,  No.  253,  1899. 


234  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

Centres  of  Dispersion. — In  support  of  the  view  that 
the  human  race  has  at  times  followed  the  course  indicated 
by  this  scheme  of  development,  we  may  point  to  the  his- 
torical evidence  for  such  centres  of  distribution.  It  has 
been  customary  to  speak  of  a  cradle  of  the  race  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  Asia,  and  thus  to  give  a  certain  sci- 
entific content  to  the  biblical  account  of  Paradise  and  the 
early  development  of  the  human  race.  Nor  can  we  doubt 
that  there  was  such  a  cradle  of  humanity  where  men  mul- 
tiplied, and  from  which  successive  waves  of  immigration 
swept  to  the  westward.  The  study  of  language  and  of  cult- 
ure makes  us  acquainted  with  a  few  groups  of  peoples 
such  as  the  Semitic  and  the  Indo-Germanic,  which  are 
very  widespread,  and  each  of  which  seems  to  have  come 
from  one  source.  Used  with  the  greatest  care,  this  evi- 
dence still  seems  to  point  to  centres  of  dispersion  from 
which  each  group  originally  came.  On  the  American 
continent  we  can  point  out  at  least  one  such  swarming- 
place  for  the  Indian  races.  Fish  and  game  were  plenty  in 
the  region  of  the  Great  Lakes ;  men  multiplied  rapidly, 
and  as  they  became  too  numerous  to  find  sufficient  food 
even  in  such  a  place,  one  tribe  after  another  seems  to  have 
separated  from  the  parent  stock,  and  gone  forth  to  find  a  new 
home.  Here  again  related  languages  and  similar  customs 
suggest  a  common  source ;  while  the  appearance  of  the 
same  sub-tribes  and  clans  in  each  tribe,  together  with  the 
same  system  of  names  and  the  same  laws  of  relationship 
seem  to  indicate  that  there  was  one  parent  tribe,  the  or- 
ganization of  which  was  retained  by  each  offshoot.  From 
evidence  of  this  character,  I  infer  that  dispersion  is  a 
real  process ;  it  is  equally  clear  that  we  do  not  have  and 
cannot  have  any  such  evidence  that  the  whole  human  race 
came  from  one  centre  of  this  type. 

Differentiation  of  Physical  Types. — Those  who  have  be- 
lieved that  the  entire  human  race  had  a  common  origin 
have  found  it  necessary  to  explain  the  important  differences 
between  ethnic  groups  as  the  result  of  a  long-continued 


PROCESSES   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT  235 

process  of  differentiation.  Children  of  the  same  parents 
differ,  grandchildren  may  differ  more  widely;  and  distant 
descendants,  who  have  lived  under  different  conditions, 
will  show  far  greater  differences.  All  those  differences  of 
environment,  which  have  been  discussed  in  an  earlier  chap- 
ter (Chap.  III.),  have  gradually  affected  the  races  that  were 
subject  to  them.  The  temperature  and  the  amount  of 
moisture  in  the  air  affect  the  physical  constitution  ;  some 
localities  favor,  and  others  hinder,  intercourse  of  tribe 
with  tribe ;  the  character  of  the  food-supply  will  modify 
the  tribe  from  its  industrial  side  ;  conditions  of  security  or 
insecurity  will  affect  its  vigor ;  and,  finally,  with  the  rise 
of  civilization,  the  range  of  differences  in  the  environment 
of  individuals  is  indefinitely  increased.  The  facts  already 
accessible  with  reference  to  the  effects  of  new  and  different 
surroundings  upon  a  European  race,  confirm  the  impres- 
sion that  the  process  of  differentiation  is  going  on,  and 
that  the  varieties  best  adapted  to  given  conditions  are 
likely  to  be  perpetuated.  The  Boer  in  South  Africa,  the 
negro  in  the  United  States,  and  in  particular  the  different 
types  that  have  been  developed  in  Latin  America,  show 
how  far  this  process  can  be  carried.  At  the  same  time  the 
effort  to  account  for  important  ethnic  differences  by  the 
long-continued  effects  of  environment  is  as  yet  very  far 
from  being  successful. 

Very  grave  objections  may  be  brought  against  the  theory 
that  the  greater  racial  distinctions  have  arisen  gradually 
among  the  descendants  of  a  single  human  pair;  but  we 
find  abundant  evidence  that  the  differentiation  and  dis- 
persion of  human  races  are  a  real  process  actually  going  on. 
We  can  point  out  several  centres  of  dispersion  from  which 
one  race  after  another  has  gone  out.  We  have  good  evi- 
dence that  environment  in  and  by  itself  has  at  least  a 
limited  direct  influence  both  upon  individuals  and  the 
race ;  and  we  know  that  any  differences,  however  slight, 
which  benefit  the  individual  or  the  race  in  a  given  environ- 
ment, are  almost  sure  to  be  perpetuated  in  the  struggle  for 


236  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

existence.  As  a  theory  of  human  development,  the  theory 
under  discussion  is  inadequate,  if  not  misleading ;  as  a 
process  constantly  going  on,  its  truth  cannot  be  denied. 

2.  Differentiation  and  Dispersion  of  Forms  of  Psychi- 
cal Life. — The  same  theory  which  has  been  discussed  in  the 
sphere  of  physical  development  has  also  exercised  a  wide 
influence  upon  students  of  the  various  forms  of  psychical 
life.  The  history  of  such  institutions  as  the  state,  or  the 
history  of  social  manners  and  customs,  has  been  repre- 
sented by  the  figure  of  a  genealogical  tree  ;  and  any  type 
has  been  "explained"  when  it  is  traced  back  to  the  com- 
mon origin  from  which  all  have  sprung.  Two  examples 
make  this  clearer,  and  at  the  same  time  will  illustrate  the 
truth  and  the  weakness  of  the  explanation  offered. 

(a)  Language :  Dispersion. — The  discovery  of  the  San- 
scrit language  by  European  scholars,  and  the  light  which 
it  threw  upon  the  relation  of  languages  in  Europe,  gave  a 
powerful  impetus  to  the  general  study  of  the  development 
of  language.  It  was  indeed  a  revelation  that  languages  so 
different  as  the  Slav  and  the  German,  the  Celtic  and  the 
Greek,  were  intimately  related  as  to  root-meanings,  inflec- 
tional endings,  and  sentence  structure.  The  immediate 
inference  from  this  group  of  new  facts  was  that  all  these 
languages  were  descended  from  a  common  source,  an  orig- 
inal Indo-Germanic  language,  which,  twenty  years  ago, 
scholars  thought  they  could  reconstruct  with  considerable 
accuracy.  From  the  existence  of  this  large  group  of 
languages,  it  was  inferred  further  that  all  languages  could 
be  classified  in  large  genealogical  groups ;  that  each  of 
these  groups  pointed  to  some  common  centre  of  dispersion  ; 
and  finally  it  was  suggested  that  these  groups  had  them- 
selves a  genealogical  connection  with  a  more  distant  com- 
mon source,  although  few  traces  of  this  could  be  pointed 
out.  It  is  now  clear  that  many  of  these  inferences  were 
unjustifiable,  and  they  have  already  been  abandoned.  As 
a  process,  ever  going  on  in  the  history  of  language,  the 
spread  of  language  is  an  all-important  fact.  Races  carry 


PROCESSES   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT  237 

their  own  languages  with  them  as  they  migrate,  and  the 
effort  to  communicate  with  those  who  use  other  languages 
is  likely  to  result  in  the  gradual  extension  of  that  language 
which,  under  the  circumstances,  is  best  adapted  to  survive. 
As  a  theory  of  the  development  of  languages,  however,  the 
genealogical  account  of  their  descent  is  anything  but  satis- 
factory. 

Language:  Differentiation. — Even  apart  from  the  in- 
fluence of  different  environments,  language  is  never  fixed 
and  unchanging  ;  and  if  one  goes  back  to  the  period  before 
the  general  diffusion  of  printed  books,  and  farther  still,  to 
the  period  before  the  general  use  of  writing,  he  finds  that 
language  changes  much  more  rapidly  than  is  possible  to- 
day. The  greatest  difference  between  the  dialects  of  one 
language  to-day  is  a  difference  of  pronunciation  for  the 
same  vocables  ;  and  the  change  of  pronunciation  proceeds 
so  rapidly,  that  the  English  spoken  in  the  time  of  Shake- 
speare would  not  be  easily  intelligible  to  modern  ears. 
The  careful  study  of  these  changes  may  not  reveal  any 
universal  laws,  but  it  shows  that  these  changes  are  all  sub- 
ject to  law,  and  the  laws  which  hold  in  a  given  place  and 
at  a  given  time  are  being  definitely  formulated.  Changes 
in  the  root  meanings  of  words  take  place  more  slowly,  but 
they  are  none  the  less  real.  Words  of  general  meaning  are 
restricted  to  particular  uses,  words  applied  to  specific  ob- 
jects come  to  denote  more  general  classes,  literal  use  be- 
comes metaphor,  and  the  reverse.1  Even  more  striking 
changes  in  vocabulary  arise  through  the  decay  of  some 
words,  and  the  genesis  of  others  to  do  their  work.  The 
main  reason  for  these  changes  is  evident,  when  one  con- 
siders the  way  in  which  language  is  learned.  The  child 
learns  but  gradually  to  speak  the  language  which  he  hears, 
and  no  two  persons  speak  a  language  in  exactly  the  same 
way.  Differences  existing  in  the  case  even  of  one  person 
affect  the  ideal  of  the  community  with  reference  to  lan- 

1  Abundant  illustration  of  these  changes  may  be  found  in  Whitney's 
Life  and  Growth  of  Language,  chap,  v.-vii. 


238  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

guage,  so  that  every  change  has  a  slight  tendency  to  per- 
petuate itself.  Moreover,  language  is  but  the  way  in  which 
a  type  of  culture  finds  expression,  and  each  change  in  the 
type  of  culture  is  immediately  reflected  in  the  language  of 
the  people  in  question. 

Languages  Change  and  Separate. — While  then  we  can- 
not find  traces  of  any  direct  tendency  to  differentiation  in 
language,  such  that  the  meanings  of  a  word  naturally  split 
up  within  the  same  social  group,  we  find  numerous  classes 
of  changes  to  which  language  is  subject.  When  two  lan- 
guages derived  from  a  common  source  have  once  lost  the 
consciousness  of  their  connection,  these  processes  of  change 
meet  with  no  check,  and  constantly  widen  the  breach  be- 
tween them.  Nevertheless,  these  facts  of  change  do  not 
constitute  any  complete  theory  of  the  development  of 
language. 

(b)  Religion :  Dispersion. — The  increased  attention  to  the 
history  of  language  which  followed  the  discovery  of  Sanscrit, 
soon  raised  the  question  as  to  the  history  of  other  phases 
of  human  culture.  The  same  principle  which  had  proved 
so  fruitful  for  language  was  applied  to  religion,  and  it  was 
argued  that  the  Indo-European  religions  were  also  parts  of 
one  process;  that,  springing  from  a  common  source,  they 
were  related  as  names  in  a  genealogical  tree.  Finding  in 
language  material  for  the  study  of  myths,  the  comparative 
mythologists  naturally  brought  systems  of  mythology  into 
the  same  relation  as  groups  of  languages.  The  name  of  a 
divinity  recurring  in  different  religions1  suggested  a  com- 
mon origin  for  these  religions.  The  same  types  of  divinity2 
at  least  suggest  a  common  source  from  which  their  worship 
has  spread,  either  as  their  worshippers  migrated,  or  as 
other  tribes  came  to  recognize  these  divinities  as  their  gods. 
The  principles  for  the  exact  study  of  the  dispersion  of 
religions  have  not  been  determined  with  any  definiteness, 

1  The  standing  example  of  this  is  Dyaus-pitar,  Zeus-pater,  Ju-piter. 

8  A  goddess  of  love  and  generation  (Astarte,  Aphrodite,  Venus),  a 
god  of  the  wine  (Soma,  Dionysos,  Sabazios,  Bacchus),  a  god  of  the 
sun,  and  another  of  the  heavens. 


PROCESSES   OF   SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  239 

and  the  wild  theories  frequently  propounded  have  cast  dis- 
credit on  this  whole  line  of  study.  Nevertheless,  we  can- 
not avoid  the  belief  that  religion,  like  other  phases  of 
culture,  has  often  been  spread  from  common  centres. 
"With  the  migration  of  peoples  from  such  centres,  the  re- 
ligious side  of  their  culture  was  spread  abroad ;  and  we 
have  abundant  evidence  that,  at  least  within  historic 
times,  religions  have  had  a  remarkable  power  of  ex- 
tending over  civilizations  to  which  they  were  originally 
foreign. 

Religion:  Differentiation. — Religious  beliefs  are  inti- 
mately connected  with  philosophical  beliefs  as  to  the  nat- 
ure of  the  world  and  of  the  soul,  and  each  change  in  the 
latter  is  reflected  in  tho  beliefs  that  are  more  distinctly 
religious.  Religious  myth  is  almost  as  unstable  as  other 
types  of  legend,  except  when  it  is  intimately  connected 
with  forms  of  religious  practice  ;  and  even  the  explanations 
of  religious  practice  become  radically  different  as  a  people 
advances  to  a  new  and  higher  stage  of  culture.  No  fac- 
tor of  religious  life  is  HO  permanent  as  the  forms  of  sa- 
cred rites;  but  these  too  change  slowly  from  age  to  age. 
Forms  which  have  become  dead  are  cast  aside,  and  new 
practices  gradually  gain  the  authority  which  was  formerly 
possessed  by  others.  If,  then,  two  peoples  start  together, 
the  particular  forms  of  religious  life  are  likely  to  become 
different,  and  all  hindrances  to  this  differentiation  are  re- 
moved when  the  two  peoples  have  lost  consciousness  of  their 
earlier  relation. 

The  consideration  of  the  development  of  language  and 
of  religion,  as  examples  of  the  development  of  psychical 
life,  shows  that  the  process  of  dispersion  is  real,  and  that 
constant  changes  are  occurring,  which  result  in  differences. 
Three  facts  stand  out  in  the  general  process,  (a)  The  fact 
of  continuity.  Each  phase  of  psychical  life,  like  each  liv- 
ing being  in  the  physical  world,  is  the  direct  product  of  its 
past,  (b)  The  fact  of  dispersion.  Forms  of  psychical  life 
are  frequently  spread  from  common  centres,  both  by  the 


240  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

migration  of  races,  and  by  the  direct  migration  of  their 
types  of  culture,  (c)  The  fact  of  differentiation.  Changes 
are  constantly  going  on  in  every  form  of  genuine  psychical 
life,  and  these  changes  make  the  psychical  life  of  one  group 
different  from  that  of  another.  This  last  act  is  quite  as 
important  in  a  developed  society  as  in  earlier  times,  and 
the  integration  of  distinct  groups  in  the  performance  of 
different  social  activities  helps  on  such  a  differentiation 
within  any  given  society.  As  a  theory  of  the  development 
of  culture,  this  genealogical  account  of  society  is  inade- 
quate and  often  misleading.  As  processes  constantly  going 
on,  dispersion  and  differentiation  are  real  facts,  and  are 
playing  a  more  important  part  in  social  evolution  than  ever 
before. 

II.  PROCESS  OF  AGGLOMERATION 

Civilization  lessens  Number  of  Social  Groups. — In  any 

comparison  of  civilized  and  uncivilized  races  as  they  exist 
to-day,  the  most  striking  difference  relates  to  the  size  of  a 
society.  Among  the  Bushmen  of  South  Africa,  the  groups 
or  incipient  tribes  are  numerous,  without  organization,  and 
unstable.  The  lowest  mountain  tribes  of  India  or  Central 
America  show  the  same  characteristics.  Turning  to  the 
civilized  world,  we  find  to-day  but  one  society  ;  it  covers 
most  of  the  globe,  its  organization  is  very  complex,  and  it 
has  been  comparatively  stable  for  many  centuries.  Some 
smaller  tribes  have  been  exterminated  by  the  "  march  of 
civilization,"  but  when  the  differences  in  culture  have  not 
been  excessively  great,  the  process  has  ordinarily  been  one 
of  absorption  and  assimilation.  The  various  factors  which 
entered  into  the  national  life  of  the  Hebrew  people  left 
some  traces  in  the  later  tribes,  and  the  early  history  of 
the  Greek  city-state  is  an  account  of  the  fusing  together 
of  different  elements  into  a  larger  whole.  The  condition 
of  the  uncivilized  world  to-day  justifies  us  in  assuming 
that  the  civilized  society  has  been  preceded  by  innumera- 
ble smaller  societies ;  and  we  have  abundant  proof  with 


PROCESSES   OF  SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT  241 

reference  to  each  of  the  earlier  civilizations  that  this  as- 
sumption is  correct. 

Mr.  Spencer's  Classification  of  Different  Types  of  Social 
Aggregates. — The  more  elaborate  classifications  of  different 
types  of  social  aggregates  bring  out  this  fact  of  agglomera- 
tion even  more  clearly,  and  show  something  of  its  impor- 
tance. Spencer's  classification  of  different  types  of  socie- 
ties may  serve  as  an  illustration.1  In  his  "  simple"  society 
"  the  parts  co-operate,  with  or  without  a  regulating  centre, 
for  certain  public  ends."  In  the  "  compound "  societies 
"  the  simple  groups  have  their  respective  chiefs  under  a 
supreme  chief."  Such  societies  are  naturally  formed  when 
one  group  asserts  its  superiority  by  subjecting  other  groups 
to  its  rule.  As  these  compound  societies  get  a  more  stable 
headship,  and  different  parts  come  to  depend  more  on 
each  other,  one  of  these  may  absorb  others,  and  thus  a 
doubly  or  a  trebly  compound  society  is  formed.  Without 
attributing  too  much  weight  to  Mr.  Spencer's  abstractions 
and  terminology,  we  recognize  that  each  change  is  the  re- 
sult of  a  new  agglomeration,  and  that  the  classes  in  the 
more  compound  society  partially  represent  the  component 
parts,  the  original  groups  which  it  has  absorbed. 

Statement  of  the  Process  of  Agglomeration. — This  sug- 
gests another  process  besides  simple  dispersion,  and  another 
figure  which  represents  progress  more  truly  than  the  gen- 
ealogical account  of  a  patriarchal  society.  From  a  purely 
external  stand-point,  human  progress  may  be  represented  as 
a  process  of  agglomeration  and  assimilation.  Granted  the 
existence  of  an  indefinite  number  of  small  groups,  such  as 
we  find  among  any  uncivilized  people,  progress  begins  when 
one  group  is  able  to  use  another  for  its  own  ends  in  some 
other  way  than  by  eating  those  who  compose  it.  From  this 
stand-point  the  story  of  human  progress  is  always  the  same. 
One  tribe  subdues  another,  absorbs  it,  and  rises  by  pushing 
it  down.  The  leverage  for  human  progress  is  quite  gener- 
ally found  in  humanity,  not  in  nature  alone.  This  is  fol- 
1  Spencer,  Principles  of  Sociology,  part  ii.,  chap.  x. 


242  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

lowed  by  an  assimilation  of  the  different  elements  into  a 
more  homogeneous  whole.  Men  are  brought  together  in 
larger  and  larger  societies,  until  the  human  race  is  one — 
for  the  real  unity  of  the  race  is  an  achievement,  whether 
or  not  it  be  descended  from  a  single  pair. 

i.  This  Process  Regarded  from  its  Physical  Side. — 
Viewed  on  its  physical  side,  the  process  starts  with  the 
fact  of  very  numerous,  all  but  independent,  groups  of  men. 
When  it  is  put  forward  as  a  theory  that  seeks  to  explain  the 
differences  between  men  by  tracing  them  back  even  farther 
than  the  beginnings  of  humanity,  of  course  this  process 
requires  the  polygenetic  origin  of  our  race.  But  in  its 
more  modest  form,  it  starts  with  the  facts  of  uncivilized 
life  as  they  exist  all  over  the  globe.  The  process  consists 
first  in  the  agglomeration  of  these  groups,  either  directly 
or  indirectly  ;  directly,  as  one  absorbs  another  in  toto,  in- 
directly, as  exogamous  marriage  gradually  unites  the  sep- 
arate groups  into  one  larger  society.  Such  agglomeration 
takes  place  very  easily  and  naturally  when  two  savage 
hordes  come  in  contact  with  each  other ;  and  it  is  none  the 
less  real  when  two  civilized  societies  first  touch,  and  then 
enter  into  connection  with  each  other.  It  is  only  when 
two  societies  on  very  different  planes  of  culture  come  into 
relation,  that  a  true  union  seems  to  be  difficult.1  The  pro- 
cess which  we  are  thus  led  to  consider  is  by  no  means  in- 
consistent with  the  process  of  race-dispersion,  but  it  is  far 
more  important  than  such  dispersion  in  explaining  the  rise 
of  civilized  society,  for  it  is  distinctly  synthetic,  while  the 
former  process  was  analytic. 

Persistence  of  Race-Characteristics. — In  this  general 
process  we  may  distinguish  two  elements — the  persistence 
of  race-characteristics,  and  the  unification  of  different  fac- 
tors in  a  single  complex  social  life.  The  theory  of  natural 
selection  in  its  stricter  form,  like  every  other  careful 

1  Celts  and  Teutons  have  remained  distinct  in  Great  Britain ;  and  the 
comparatively  high  civilizations  of  parts  of  East  Africa  and  Central 
America  have  left  no  traces  on  the  civilization  from  Europe,  by  which 
they  have  been  superseded. 


PROCESSES   OF  SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT  243 

theory  of  heredity,  starts  with  the  postulate  that  the  char- 
acteristics of  each  individual  tend  to  persist  in  all  his  de- 
scendants. The  popular  belief  that  increasing  differentia- 
tion in  the  descendants  of  a  single  pair  is  independent  of 
hereditary  influences,  is  quite  inconsistent  with  this  posi- 
tion. In  the  attempt  to  construct  a  science  of  sociology, 
any  neglect  of  the  scientific  theory  of  heredity  is  exceed- 
ingly unfortunate,  and  the  study  of  the  process  under  dis- 
cussion has  done  good  service  by  bringing  clearly  into  view 
the  persistence  of  race-characteristics.  The  fact  of  differ- 
entiation it  readily  explains  as  due  to  the  crossing  of  types 
already  in  existence.  While  anthropologists  are  inclined 
to  question  the  reality  of  the  genesis  of  new,  independent 
physical  types,  the  intermarriage  of  families  and  the  ag- 
glomeration of  tribes  have  led  to  increasingly  numerous  sets 
of  new  combinations.  The  real  source  of  the  differences 
in  modern  society  is  to  be  found  in  the  different  original 
elements  which  entered  into  its  composition. 

Unification  of  Culture. — Corresponding  to  the  persist- 
ence of  race-characteristics  is  the  development  of  a  wider 
and  wider  social  life,  in  which  these  characteristics  find  ex- 
pression. In  truth,  these  original  differences  only  find 
their  proper  setting  when  one  race  comes  to  share  the  same 
common  life  with  another  race.  If  the  races  were  exactly 
alike,  when  they  were  united  there  would  be  no  basis  for 
the  development  of  a  complex  social  structure,  and  the 
stability  which  results  from  interdependence  in  such  a 
structure  would  be  lacking.  Different  races  contribute 
each  its  own  element  to  the  common  life,  and  the  life  de- 
veloped out  of  these  factors  tends  to  be  permanent,  be- 
cause each  factor  comes  to  depend  for  its  very  life  on  every 
other.  When  two  races  come  together,  the  characteristics 
of  each  persist,  and  a  new,  higher  social  life  is  developed 
out  of  the  peculiar  culture  which  had  belonged  to  each  in- 
dependently ;  the  agglomeration  of  social  groups  is  accom- 
panied by  an  assimilation  or  unification  of  the  life  of  each 
group  into  a  life  that  is  not  only  more  complex,  but  richer. 


244  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

2.  This  Process  Regarded  from  the  Psychical  Side.— 

On  turning  from  the  consideration  of  man's  physical 
development  to  the  development  of  civilization,  we  find 
the  same  process  of  agglomeration  and  assimilation,  nor  is 
its  importance  in  the  psychical  world  any  less  than  its 
importance  in  the  realm  of  biology  and  ethnology.  The 
fundamental  principle  of  union  among  the  members  of 
a  group  is  essentially  a  psychical  principle ;  and  when 
two  social  groups  combine,  the  psychical  life  of  each  tends 
to  persist  in  the  complex  psychical  life  which  is  a  result  of 
their  union.  This  is  very  evident  in  the  case  of  social  in- 
stitutions, which  are  but  the  external  forms  in  which  the 
inner  life  finds  expression.  When  two  tribes  unite,  the  in- 
stitutions of  each  tend  to  persist ;  and  the  result  is  either 
that  each  institution  is  profoundly  modified  and  enriched, 
or,  more  commonly,  that  the  institutions  of  one  group  pre- 
vail at  one  point,  and  those  of  the  other  group  at  other 
points. 

Take,  for  example,  the  result  of  the  Doric  migration  into  the 
Peloponnesus,  as  pictured  by  a  recent  historian  of  Greece.1 
Rude,  vigorous  tribes  from  the  northern  mountains  conquered 
without  great  difficulty  the  weakened  representatives  of  a 
civilization  which  once  had  controlled  all  the  ^Egean  Sea. 
The  conquerors  brought  with  them  their  own  political  and 
social  institutions,  and  these  they  retained  with  but  little 
change.  The  implements  of  warfare  used  by  the  conquered 
people,  and  many  of  the  arts  they  practised,  were  to  a  con- 
siderable degree  adopted  by  the  invaders,  as  being  superior 
to  their  own ;  the  religious  rites  of  the  Dorians  seem  to 
have  been  welded  together  with  the  rites  which  they  found 
and  adopted.  To  such  amalgamations  of  different  elements 
the  Greek  people  owed  the  richness  and  power  of  their  later 
civilization. 

Language  as  an  Example  of  this  Process. — We  may 
well  take  again  the  same  examples  of  language  and  re- 
ligion, which  were  used  to  illustrate  the  "genealogical" 

1  E.  Meyer,  Geschichte  des  Alterthums,  Band  II.,  Zweites  Buch. 


PROCESSES   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT          245 

process  of  development.  The  history  of  language  shows 
the  process  of  agglomeration  and  assimilation  as  regularly 
as  it  does  that  of  differentiation.  At  least  the  more  im- 
portant differences  between  the  various  elements  of  a  lan- 
guage are  due  to  different  sources.  In  the  rich  and  varied 
speech  of  modern  civilization  the  results  of  this  process 
may  be  preserved  intact,  so  that  they  are  easily  traceable, 
but  the  process  was  no  less  important  in  earlier  times. 
When  two  languages  come  together,  they  never  fail  to  co- 
alesce, though  the  process  may  be  gradual,  and  social  lines 
may  for  some  time  take  the  place  of  geographical  lines  in 
separating  the  languages.1  In  the  end,  however,  the  con- 
tiguity of  two  languages  results  in  some  form  of  combina- 
tion. 

When  two  uncivilized  peoples  are  merged  in  one,  the 
simple  sounds  used  to  express  different  ideas  may  have  a 
lasting  effect  on  the  resultant  language.  The  same  sound,  or 
syllable,  may  preserve  the  very  different  meanings  assigned 
to  it  in  each  original  language,  and  if  these  meanings  are 
at  all  related,  they  may  gradually  coalesce  in  a  more  gen- 
eral meaning.2  And  not  only  by  words  of  similar  sound, 
but  also  by  slight  differences  in  the  ideas  originally  ex- 
pressed, old  word-meanings  will  be  slightly  deflected ;  for 
the  ideas  denoted  by  words  in  different  languages  never 
quite  coincide.  Moreover,  many  words  will  disappear  from 
each  language,  and  more  convenient  or  more  distinctive 
substitutes  from  the  other  will  take  their  place.  These 
changes  in  vocabulary  may  affect  a  whole  language  or  they 

1  The  persistence  of  French  and  Saxon  elements  in  different  strata 
of  the  English  people  has  been  noted,  for  instance  in  Scott's  Ivanhoe 
and  in  Bulwer's  Last  of  the  Barons . 

*  In  our  lexicons  a  somewhat  arbitrary  distinction  is  made  between 
cases  where  different  words  have  the  same  form,  and  cases  where  one 
word  has  different  meanings.  The  Greek  lexicon  of  Liddelland  Scott 
gives  two  words  under  8««  and  three  under  \ey<a  ;  at  the  same  time  the 
word  \i5tfos  is  said  to  mean  wolf,  a  daw,  a  fish,  a  spider,  the  flower  of 
an  iris,  anything  hooked,  like  a  bit,  a  well  hook  or  a  flesh-hook. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  these  different  meanings  came  from  totally 
different  sources,  and  that  the  general  meaning,  hooked  (cf.  Latin 
lupus,  lupatum),  is  a  somewhat  late  development. 


246  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

may  be  operative  only  in  a  limited  region,  in  which  case 
the  result  is  a  dialect. 

One  of  the  curious  phenomena  of  language  is  the 
variety  of  expressions  that  may  be  used  with  but  slight 
difference  of  meaning.  In  the  languages  of  modern 
Europe  this  phenomenon  is  easily  explained  ;  the  various 
expressions  for  one  idea  can  often  be  directly  traced  to 
some  local  usage,  or  to  elements  of  the  language  which 
were  evidently  derived  from  different  races.1  The  real 
question  is,  not  why  the  words  or  phrases  mean  much 
the  same  thing,  but  why  they  have  been  retained  when 
their  meaning  was  so  nearly  alike.  The  very  great  num- 
ber of  nearly  synonymous  roots  in  Semitic  languages  can 
only  be  due  to  the  same  cause,  viz.,  the  different  orig- 
inal elements  out  of  which  the  language  has  arisen ;  and 
the  main  difference  between  these  languages  and  the  Indo- 
European  consists  merely  in  the  fact  that  they  retained  so 
many  roots  with  nearly  identical  meaning.  An  early  stage 
of  this  process  may  be  found  in  the  speech  of  the  very  low- 
est races.  Here  a  great  abundance  of  roots  exist  for  the 
few  concrete  objects  which  require  names,  while  there  is 
little  or  no  connection  between  the  roots  denoting  similar 
objects  among  tribes  a  little  way  apart.  The  examination 
of  languages  in  use  at  different  stages  of  culture  suggests 
that  agglomeration  and  assimilation  are  a  most  important 
process  in  the  development  of  vocabulary. 

Nor  is  the  process  we  are  considering  at  all  limited  to 
vocabulary.  Each  different  element  in  a  language  tends 
to  persist  and  exert  its  influence  on  the  result,  when  two 
languages  come  in  contact.  Naturally  the  vocabulary  and 
the  sentence-structure  and  the  modes  of  inflection  of  either 

1  Thus,  in  Germany,  the  ears  of  different  animals  are  denoted  by 
Lauscher,  Luser,  Lo'jfel,  Gehbr,  Schiisseln,  Behang,  Lappen,  Ohren. 
Man's  bones  are  Beine ;  an  animal's,  Knochen ;  and  a  fish'Sj,  Grate. 
Similarly  in  this  country  we  have  many  names  for  the  same  thing. 
Rill,  rivulet,  stream,  brook,  .and  creek  all  refer  to  running  water,  the 
last  two  being  local  terms — a  New  England  child  might  not  know  what 
a  creek  was.  Frequently  the  Latin  and  Saxon  origin  of  many  synonyms 
is  plain,  as,  e.g.,  origin  and  beginning,  punish  and  chastise,  etc. 


PEOCESSE8  OF  SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT          247 

language  will  not  have  each  the  same  influence,  and  the 
result  may  be  a  highly  complex  combination.  Thus  the 
Babylonian  language  is  analyzed  into  several  components  ; 
the  mode  of  writing  is  said  to  be  Accadian  in  origin,  the 
sentence-structure  is  Semitic,  and  the  vocabulary  includes 
words  from  both  sources.  To  follow  out  this  example  of 
language  in  other  matters  than  vocabulary  would,  however, 
lead  us  too  far  astray  from  our  main  argument. 

The  Example  of  Religion. — We  may  note  the  same  pro- 
cess as  it  appears  in  the  history  of  religions.  The  worship 
and  belief  of  any  civilized  people  are  very  complex,  and 
elements  from  different  sources  may  be  traced  in  the  re- 
ligion as  well  as  in  the  language  of  such  a  people.  The 
history  of  early  Greek  religion  tells  of  a  persistent  tendency 
to  adopt  religious  beliefs  and  practices  from  Phoenicia, 
from  Thrace,  from  Asia  Minor,  and  from  Egypt.  The 
Roman  Empire  followed  the  example  of  Babylon  and  of 
earlier  states  in  Egypt,  when  it  adopted  gods  from  all 
over  Italy  and  from  the  conquered  nations  outside  of  Italy 
as  members  of  its  own  pantheon.  It  is  customary  to  trace 
the  complex  forms  of  modern  Christian  belief  and  practice 
back  to  three  main  sources — the  influences  of  Palestine, 
of  Greece,  and  of  Koine ;  but  each  nation  which  has  ac- 
cepted Christianity  has  in  some  measure  modified  its  form, 
and  within  its  catholic  faith  may  be  traced  survivals  of 
many  primitive  forms  of  religion.  The  complex  character 
of  civilized  religions  suggests  (1)  that  they  contain  elements 
which  differ  radically  because  they  came  from  different 
sources,  and  (2)  that  forms  of  religious  faith  and  practice 
have  a  remarkable  power  of  persistence. 

Fusion  of  Religious  Forms. — In  fact  the  interaction  of 
heterogeneous  elements  in  religion  and  the  fusion  of  these 
elements  into  new  and  more  complex  forms  is  almost  the 
whole  content  of  the  external  history  of  worship.  The  ob- 
jects with  which  the  idea  of  God  is  associated,  often  show 
the  traces  of  this  process.  Some  of  the  composite  idols  of 
India  may  be  readily  analyzed  into  their  component  parts  ; 


24:8  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

and  Egyptian  gods  with  animal  symbols  are  the  products 
of  lower  and  higher  elements  combined  in  a  somewhat  me- 
chanical way.  The  gods  of  the  developed  Greek  religion 
contain  elements  derived  from  local  cults  all  over  Greece, 
as  well  as  many  elements  from  foreign  sources,  and  all  the 
imagination  of  the  Greek  people  failed  to  give  them  a 
clearly  defined  unity.  A  similar  process  of  fusion  may  be 
followed  in  the  development  of  belief  in  a  future  life  with 
its  rewards  and  punishments.  Persian,  and  Babylonian; 
and  perhaps  Egyptian  ideas  seem  to  have  affected  later 
Jewish  conceptions,  and  in  the  early  church  these  were 
profoundly  modified  again  by  Greek  lines  of  thought. 
Again,  the  same  spot  has  often  served  as  a  holy  place  for  a 
heathen  temple,  a  Christian  church,  and  a  Mohammedan 
mosque ;  and  not  infrequently  much  the  same  rites  have 
been  practised  there  from  time  immemorial,  with  only  the 
adoption  of  some  new  elements  as  the  religion  nominally 
changed.  The  more  careful  study  of  religious  history  con- 
firms the  impression  that  the  different  factors  of  religion 
have  a  wonderful  power  of  persistence,  and  that  differences 
in  the  forms  of  a  religion  are  in  large  measure  due  to  an 
original  difference  of  the  religions  which  have  gone  before  it. 
Heterogeneity  the  Condition  of  Progress. — Finally,  the 
effort  to  discover  the  reason  for  religious  development  leads 
the  student  back  to  the  same  line  of  thought.  New  forms 
of  religious  belief  and  practice  are  due  to  the  conjunction 
of  earlier  forms;  the  forms  which  we  were  wont  to  call 
higher,  arise  through  the  interaction  of  forms  that  seem  to 
us  more  crude.  All  the  great  ethnic  religions  of  the  world, 
like  all  the  civilizations  with  which  they  were  associated, 
are  the  product  of  epochs  and  of  countries  where  there  was 
a  vigorous  interaction  of  different  ethnic  elements.  The 
development  of  new  and  higher  forms  of  thought  and  of 
life  in  Christianity  itself  may  be  traced  to  external  stimu- 
lating influences  of  the  same  sort.  The  agglomeration  and 
fusion  of  different  elements  are  not  only  the  cause  of  com- 
plexity, but  the  condition  of  genuine  progress. 


PROCESSES   OF   SOCIAL   DEVELOPMENT  249 

Process  of  Agglomeration  and  Assimilation:  Conclusion. 

— In  the  record  of  the  development  of  the  race  and  of  its 
civilization,  the  process  which  we  have  just  been  consider- 
ing stands  beside  the  process  of  dispersion  and  differentia- 
tion. Alone  it  is  no  adequate  explanation  of  human  prog' 
ress,  but  it  is  a  process  ever  going  on  as  one  phase  of 
this  development.  It  involves  two  principles.  (1)  Physi- 
cal and  psychical  characteristics  tend  to  persist  indefinitely. 
(2)  These  characteristics  are  modified  indefinitely  by  the 
contact  of  race  with  race,  but  each  constituent  element  ex- 
ercises its  influence  in  the  formation  of  the  new  product. 
Consequently,  physical  and  psychical  differences  in  devel- 
oped civilization  are,  in  the  main,  due  («)  to  different 
sources  from  which  the  product  is  derived,  and  (b)  to  new 
types  which  may  have  arisen  by  the  combination  of  ele- 
ments originally  distinct. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY 

The  Real  Nature  of  Progress  : 

I.  The  Biological  Theory  of  Natural  Selection.    (1)  Multiplication. 

(2)  Heredity  and  Variability.     (3)  Conflict— Result :   The  Survi- 
val of  the  Fittest. 

II.  Modifications  of  the  Struggle  for  Existence  in  the  Case  of  Man, 
1.  The  Unity  of  the  Social  Group  as  a  Modifying  Factor.     2.  Lines 
limiting  Struggle  are  no  longer  Territorial,  but  by  Classes.     3.  Im- 
portance of  Reason  as  a  Modifying  Factor — Resulting  Changes. 

III.  Natural  Selection  in  Human  Society.     A.  The  Biological  Condi- 
tions of  Struggle  and  Selection  are  Present  in  Human  Society — 
Multiplication,  Heredity,  and  Variability  Follow  Biological  Law. 
Multiplication,  joined  with  Social.  Ambition,  must  produce  Struggle 
— Conditions  of  Struggle  in  the  Different  Modes  of  Social  Activity 
— Farther  discussion  of  Heredity  and  Variation  as  basis  of  Selec- 
tion— Psychical  Heredity — Multiplication  of  Social  Groups  Leads 
to  a  Struggle  of  Groups,  in  addition  to  Struggle  of  Individuals 
within  each  group — Multiplication  of  Ideas  and  Psychical  Struggle 
— Resume :  Conditions  Present  in  Society  that  inevitably  lead  to 
Struggle  and  Selection. 

The  Real  Nature  of  Progress.  —  The  processes  in 
the  development  of  human  society  which  have  thus  far 
been  discussed,  give  little  or  no  clew  to  the  nature  of 
the  forces  at  work  to  produce  this  development.  We 
may  show  that  there  is  a  unity  between  the  present  of 
society  and  its  past ;  that  social  relations  are  becoming 
more  complex,  and,  at  the  same  time,  extending  more 
widely  ;  that  a  process  of  dispersion  and  differentiation,  as 
well  as  a  process  of  amalgamation,  may  be  discovered  by 
analyzing  the  course  of  social  development ;  but,  even  if 
these  receive  the  name  of  "  laws/'  they  do  not  indicate  the 
real  nature  of  the  fact  to  be  explained.  A  race  does  change 

250 


NATURAL   SELECTION  IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      251 

when  placed  in  a  different  environment ;  races  do  modify 
each  other  when  they  come  in  contact.  But  what  has  this 
to  do  with  progress  ? 

I.  THE  BIOLOGICAL  THEORY  OF  NATURAL  SELECTION 

In  the  study  of  organisms,  a  set  of  facts  quite  similar  to 
those  just  enumerated  had  long  been  somewhat  familiar  to 
biologists,  and  the  conclusion  that  organic  species  had  arisen 
by  a  process  of  development  had  more  than  once  been  -«rrg- 
gested ;  but  it  remained  for  the  discoverer  of  the  law  of 
natural  selection  to  show  the  meaning  of  these  facts,  and 
thus  to  give  a  reasonable  account  of  biological  evolution. 
Popular  ideas  of  evolution  and  the  struggle  for  existence 
are  so  vague,  that  it  is  necessary  to  outline  this  theory  be- 
fore attempting  to  apply  it  to  human  society.  The  ac- 
cepted theory  of  natural  selection  may  be  stated  in  three 
propositions,  (a)  Organisms  tend  to  multiply  irksome  geo^ 
metrical  ratio,  so  that  far  greater  numbers  are  produced 
than  can  find  means  of  subsistence,  (b)  Offspring  are 
essentially  like  their  parents^;  nevertheless,  they  differ 
somewhat_from  either  parent,  and  from  each_othe_r.  (c)  In 
the  competition  with  other  organisms  for  the  means  of 
subsistence,  those  members  of  a  given  species  which  are 
best  adapted  to  meet  existing  conditions  will  survive,  and 
leave  more  abundant  offspring.  %  The  survival  of  the  more 
fit  is  the  key  to  development.  These  propositions  need 
but  a  few  words  of  explanation. 

i.  Multiplication  of  Organisms. — The  theory  of  evolu- 
tion starts  with  the  fact  that  the  normal  rate  of  increase 
for  any  organism  is  such  that  the  number  of  offspring  ex- 
ceeds the  number  of  the  parents,  and  that  this  increase 
tends  to  continue  in  a  geometrical  ratio.  "  There  is  no 
exception  to  the  rule  that  every  organic  being  increases  at 
so  high  a  rate,  that  if  not  destroyed,  the  earth  would  soon 
be  covered  by  the  progeny  of  a  single  pair."  "  The  ele- 
phant is  reckoned  the  slowest  breeder  of  all  known  animals 


202  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

.  .  .  At  its  probable  minimum  of  natural  increase  .  .  . 
after  a  period  of  from  740  to  750  years,  there  would  be 
nearly  19,000,000  elephants  alive,  descended  from  the  first 
pair/'  in  case  each  individual  lived  the  normal  length  of 
life.1  Such  calculations  show  very  clearly  that  the  actual 
numbers  of  any  given  species  do  not  depend  on  the  normal 
number  of  its  progeny,  but  rather  on  the  conditions  of  life 
to  which  it  is  subject.  The  necessary  result  of  this  rate 
of  increase  is  a  direct  or  indirect  competition  between 
members  of  the  same  species,  as  well  as  between  mem- 
bers of  different  species ;  and  the  more  rapid  the  rate 
of  increase,  the  larger  the  number  of  individuals  who  per- 
ish in  this  competition. 

2.  Heredity  and  Variability  of  Organisms.  —  The 
very  existence  of  fixed  species  depends  on  the  familiar  fact 
that  offspring  resemble  their  parents.  This  resemblance 
would  be  even  clearer,  except  that  the  characteristics  of 
either  parent  seem  to  appear  indifferently  and  in  new  com- 
binations in  the  child,  while  characteristics  of  more  re- 
mote ancestors  may  reappear  after  being  latent  for  several 
generations.  A  general  permanence  of  type  is  guaranteed 
by  the  fact  that  features  of  the  type  which  may  be  lacking 
in  one  parent  are  ordinarily  present  in  the  other ;  and 
again,  by  the  lack  of  fertility  which  is  common  when  both 
parents  vary  much  from  the  type.  Even  apart  from  these 
causes,  variations  from  the  type  tend  to  disappear  by  rever- 
sion unless  they  distinctly  aid  the  individual  in  his  struggle 
for  existence.  With  this  relative  permanence  of  type  is 
always  associated  some  variation  even  between  the  offspring 
of  the  same  parents.  The  different  characteristics  of  the 
two  parents  combine  to  produce  entirely  new  character- 
istics. It  has  often  been  maintained  that  the  "law "of 
use  and  disuse  affects  these  variations ;  but  whatever  their 
source,  the  fact  of  variations  is  evident  to  every  observer. 
"  Every  organ,  every  character,  every  feeling  is  individual ; 

1  Darwin,  Origin  of  Species,  6th  ed.,  p.  51.  Cf.  Wallace,  On  Natural 
Selection,  pp.  29-265. 


NATURAL   SELECTION   IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY      253 

that  is  to  say,  varies  from  the  same  organ,  character,  or 
feeling  in  every  other  individual." l  In  this  variation  is 
found  the  possibility  of  selection  and  of.  progress. 

3.  Biological  Struggle. — Thirdly,  the  struggle  which 
results  from  the  rapid  multiplication  of  organisms  is  both 
the  law  of  life  and  the  law  of  progress.  Plant  or  animal, 
it  stands  in  a  sort  of  antithesis  to  nature,  and  its  life  is  a 
constant  assertion  of  partial  independence  over  against  the 
forces  of  nature,  both  inanimate  and  animate.  Its  corre- 
spondence with  environment  includes  adaptation  to  physi- 
cal conditions  of  land,  climate,  etc.;  power  to  secure 
nourishment ;  power  of  defence  against  other  organisms ; 
power  of  propagation.  In  each  relation  the  individual  must 
maintain  itself,  and  that  better  than  its  rivals.  Placed  in 
competition  with  other  organisms,  it  must  not  simply 
adapt  itself  to  physical  conditions,  but  so  adapt  itself 
as  to  survive  when  others  fall ;  it  must  be  endowed  with 
power  to  secure  sufficient  nourishment  more  easily  than  its 
competitors ;  it  must  be  able  to  defend  itself  from  attack, 
either  directly  by  weapons,  or  indirectly  by  power  to  escape, 
or  finally  it  must  meet  attack  by  producing  offspring  in 
such  numbers  that  some  may  escape.  "  Struggle  "  may 
hardly  seem  the  word  to  express  the  relation  of  one  plant 
to  another,  and  yet  the  metaphor  is  hardly  forced,  when 
the  fact  is  that  the  plant  perishes,  unless  it  meets  present 
conditions  better  than  its  competitors.2 

Biological  Survival  of  the  Fittest. — When  these  three 
points  are  considered  together,  it  is  evident  that  the  im- 
mense destruction  of  life  resulting  from  the  struggle  for 
existence  is  always  a  destruction  of  those  less  fitted  to 
meet  existing  conditions.  Accordingly,  in  the  small  per- 
centage of  the  organisms  produced  which  can  survive,  even 

1  Wallace,  On  Natural  Selection,  p.  266.  On  pp.  287-290  the  uni- 
versality of  this  law  of  variation  is  widely  illustrated  for  plants  and 
animals.  "  The  experience  of  all  cultivators  of  plants  and  breeders  of 
animals  shows  that  when  a  sufficient  number  of  individuals  are  ex- 
amined, variations  of  any  required  kind  can  always  be  met  with."  Cf. 
Origin  of  Species,  chaps,  i.  ii. 

*  Origin  of  Species,  chap.  iii. 


254  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

slight  variations  that  prove  useful  are  preserved,  and  those 
types  which  are  best  adapted  to  their  environments  sup- 
plant the  parent  type.  Such  is  the  complexity  of  en- 
vironment that  variations  in  different  directions  may  prove 
useful  at  the  same  time,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  varieties 
from  a  common  stock  may  at  one  time  be  increasing  in 
number,  while  at  another  time,  under  different  conditions, 
even  well-established  varieties  may  disappear  entirely. 
The  two  most  important  phases  of  struggle  may  be  termed 
the  material  and  the  biological.  The  limited  amount  of 
space,  in  particular  the  limited  amount  of  food,  at  the  dis- 
posal of  any  one  species  prescribes  limits  to  the  number  of 
that  species,  and  this  fact  alone  results  in  a  weeding-out 
of  the  varieties  least  adapted  to  these  conditions.  Again, 
every  organism  must  be  able  to  meet  the  direct  attacks  of 
other  organisms  ;  in  this  form  of  conflict  the  less  vigorous, 
the  slower,  the  less  cunning  perish,  while  those  better 
able  to  defend  themselves  are  the  ones  that  survive  and 
propagate  their  kind.  In  addition  to  these  fundamental 
phases  of  struggle  and  selection  there  is  another  phase 
which  obtains  in  the  case  of  animals.  Within  the  same 
species  the  process  of  pairing  is  attended  by  a  selection  which 
is  far-reaching  in  its  results  ;  in  fact,  sexual  selection  may 
in  some  instances  exceed  the  two  forms  previously  men- 
tioned in  its  influence  on  the  surviving  type. 

II.  MODIFICATIONS  OF  THE  BIOLOGICAL  STRUGGLE 

It  is  evident  that  even  in  the  purely  biological  sphere 
these  different  factors  are  not  co-ordinate,  and  are  subject 
to  modifying  influences.  Sexual  selection  is  not  deter- 
mined on  the  basis  of  physical  strength  or  cunning  alone, 
and  it  may  often  work  at  variance  with  this.  The  gregar- 
ious instinct  is  a  very  important  modifying  factor.  In  the 
case  of  species  which  have  developed  this  instinct,  it  may 
altogether  outweigh  individual  strength  ;  it  may  even  op- 
pose the  development  of  individual  strength,  when  individ- 


NATURAL   SELECTION  IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      255 

ualism  is  at  variance  with,  the  needs  of  the  flock.  So  the 
family  instinct  changes  the  working  of  natural  selection  as 
soon  as  it  gains  any  power.  In  general,  the  young  of  birds 
and  mammals  are  not  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  conflict 
till  after  some  weeks  or  even  months  of  protection ;  and 
until  that  time,  it  is  the  whole  family  which  as  a  unit  en- 
ters into  the  struggle  for  existence.  Such  modifying  in- 
fluences break  the  force  of  struggle  for  the  individual,  and 
change  the  conditions  of  life  for  the  species,  by  bringing 
larger  units,  groups  or  families,  into  competition.  It  is, 
however,  merely  a  change  of  the  conditions  of  struggle,  a 
change  in  the  meaning  of  what  is  fit,  not  the  cessation  of 
the  struggle  for  existence.  In  view  of  these  and  other  mod- 
ifying factors,  it  is  often  convenient  to  consider  the  real 
struggle  from  an  ideal  stand-point,  and  to  speak  of  it  as  a 
competition  of  types,  rather  than  a  contest  of  individuals. 

The  word  "fittest,"  as  well  as  the  word  "struggle,"  has  led 
to  much  misunderstanding.  In  the  actual  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, what  seems  most  beautiful,  what  is  best  adapted  for 
man's  use,  what  even  seems  highest,  are  by  no  means  sure  to 
be  preserved.  The  weed  has  a  great  advantage  over  the  wheat, 
the  English  sparrow  over  the  thrush,  because  they  are  best 
adapted  to  given  conditions.  But  with  changes  in  conditions 
and  the  constant  introduction  of  new  competitors,  useful  vari- 
ations are  always  preserved.  In  the  accumulation  of  varia- 
tions in  many  different  directions,  lies  the  possibility  of  the 
more  complex  organisms  which  are  commonly  called  higher. 

In  the  case  of  man,  the  factors  which  modify  the  simple 
working  of  this  biological  law  become  far  more  important, 
so  that  its  whole  character  is  changed.  Of  these  factors, 
three  deserve  special  consideration.  Social  units  are  more 
numerous,  more  compact,  and  more  lasting  than  any  gre- 
garious groups  among  animals ;  with  the  growth  of  society, 
competition  is  limited  less  by  territorial  lines  and  more  by 
new  lines  between  differentiated  forms  of  activity ;  and, 
thirdly,  struggle  and  survival  are  raised  gradually  out  of 
the  physical  into  the  psychical  sphere. 


256  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

i.  The  Unity  of  the  Social  Group  as  a  Modifying  Factor. 

— Even  among  animals,  gregarious  habits  modify  the  sim- 
ple action  of  natural  selection.  Birds  which  migrate  to- 
gether,  fish  that  swim  in  shoals,  protect  themselves  by  their 
very  numbers ;  and  when  the  chamois,  or  the  buffalo  on  the 
Western  plains,  set  a  sentinel  to  watch  while  the  herd 
grazes,  the  group  protects  itself  as  a  whole  more  success- 
fully. The  groups  among  the  least  civilized  men  are  ordi- 
narily more  closely  bound  together  than  in  the  case  of  any 
animals,  and  they  enter  as  a  whole  into  the  struggle  for 
existence. 

The  Clan  and  the  Family. — The  less  civilized  Indians 
formerly  inhabiting  the  Pacific  coast  of  North  America, 
like  the  lower  races  in  South  Africa  or  Australia,  lived  in 
clans,  and  the  clan-relationships  were  the  most  sacred  thing 
in  life.  Within  the  clan  there  was  some  competition  be- 
tween individuals,  but  the  real  struggle  for  existence  was  the 
effort  of  the  clan  as  a  whole  to  secure  food,  and  to  protect 
itself  from  physical  evils  and  attack  by  man  or  beast.  As 
the  family  became  more  stable,  till  it  could  be  called  the 
very  basis  of  human  society,  its  close  union  shielded  its 
members  from  the  real  brunt  of  the  struggle  of  life.  The 
family  as  a  whole  seeks  protection  for  itself  from  cold  and 
wet,  and  from  attack ;  all  unite  to  protect  and  cherish  the 
weakest  member,  so  that  the  only  world  in  which  he  lives 
is  the  world  made  by  the  family.  The  family  (Chap.  IX.) 
has  been  shown  to  be  the  normal  unit  in  economic  life, 
in  social  life,  and  even  in  the  state.  In  these  different 
forms  of  activity,  families,  or  heads  of  families,  are  the 
acting  units,  and  selection  is  primarily  a  selection  of  the 
family  group  which  is  best  adapted  to  given  conditions. 

The  Town  in  the  Struggle  for  Existence. — Or  again, 
the  local  community,  town  or  city,  developing  as  it  does  a 
considerable  degree  of  common  life,  has  to  meet  the  condi- 
tions of  life  to  which  it  is  subject  as  a  whole.  A  strong 
and  genuine  municipal  life  is  a  guarantee  of  security  to  the 
citizens,  it  enables  the  city  to  prosecute  public  works  easily 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY      267 

and  cheaply  for  the  comfort  of  the  citizens,  it  is  a  primary 
condition  in  making  the  city  desirable  for  large  manufact- 
uring and  business  concerns ;  in  a  word,  the  true  city  pro- 
tects its  citizens  from  many  phases  of  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence when  it  proves  its  power  to  meet  successfully  the 
conditions  of  its  municipal  life.  The  community  competes 
with  other  communities,  and  the  "  more  fit "  survives  ;  in 
this  way  also  a  part  of  the  struggle  for  existence  is  taken 
off  from  individuals. 

The  actual  competition  between  communities  is  often  ob- 
scured by  the  complexity  of  these  relations,  and  the  slowness 
with  which  its  results  appear.  The  reports  that  inhabitants 
of  Basel  have  moved  elsewhere  to  escape  an  odious  income  tax, 
and  that  investments  have  been  withdrawn  from  the  State  of 
Colorado  for  fear  of  Populist  rule,  in  so  far  as  the  reports  are 
true,  illustrate  the  form  that  competition  may  take. 

Competition  of  Groups  Modifies  Struggle  of  Individ- 
uals.— It  is  unnecessary  to  discuss  all  the  peculiar  forms 
of  social  groups  that  arise  in  the  economic  life,  the  politi- 
cal life,  or  the  distinctly  psychical  life  of  society,  for  in 
each  case  the  same  principle  holds  good.  Groups  com- 
pete ;  the  factory,  or  bank,  or  school,  or  political  party 
that  is  best  adapted  to  existing  conditions  wins  in  this 
struggle  ;  and  the  individual  is  only  a  common  soldier  in 
the  successful  or  defeated  army.  Within  the  group  the 
individual  competes  with  his  companions,  but  in  the  world 
at  large  the  man  has  few  battles  to  fight  alone,  for  it  is  a 
contest  of  group  with  group.  That  group  is  "  selected  " 
which  proves  itself  most  vigorous  and  compact,  while  other 
groups  break  up  and  leave  their  members  unprotected ;  or 
if  they  continue  to  exist,  their  influence  and  power  are 
gone.  In  each  case  the  fate  of  the  individual  is  bound  up 
with  the  fate  of  the  group. 

2.  Lines  limiting  Struggle  are  no  longer  Territorial. — 
The  second  important  change  in  the  working  of  natural 
selection  is  also  a  direct  result  of  social  development. 


258  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

Among  plants  and  animals  the  struggle  for  existence  is 
narrowly  limited  by  territorial  lines.  The  thistle  and  the 
grass  compete  for  the  same  spot  of  ground  ;  food  and  cli- 
mate determine  for  a  given  locality  the  animals  that  can 
flourish  there.  The  growth  of  human  society  is  a  constant 
breaking  down  of  territorial  limitations,  and  with  all  that 
the  state  may  do  to  "  protect "  its  own  industries  or  to 
erect  Chinese  walls  about  its  ancient  institutions,  it  is  no 
longer  able  to  shut  off  its  life  from  the  current  of  the 
world's  life.  The  old  territorial  lines  are  succeeded  by  far 
more  complex  lines  of  limitation  that  arise  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  social  structure  itself.  The  struggle  for  social 
position  is  between  comparatively  few  competitors,  cut  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  world  by  lines  above  and  below.  The 
economic  structure,  which  stands  between  human  needs 
and  the  needs  from  which  these  needs  are  to  be  met,  illus- 
trates the  point  even  more  clearly.  The  effort  of  the  tribe, 
and  much  later  of  the  feudal  household,  to  supply  the 
needs  of  its  members,  has  been  transformed  into  a  manifold 
competitive  activity  in  which  the  whole  world  is  involved. 

With  the  disappearance  of  local  lines,  new  lines  of  kind 
limit  competition  to  a  considerable  degree.  The  individual 
iron-worker  competes  primarily  only  with  a  limited  num- 
ber of  men  who  know  how  to  perform  the  same  task  in  the 
manufacture  of  iron  products.  The  miner  in  Pennsylvania 
competes  with  those  who  have  the  same  skill ;  and  the  fact 
of  distance  has  so  little  weight  that  men  with  the  same 
skill  in  Wales  or  Hungary  may  underbid  him  for  his  posi- 
tion. The  successful  candidate  for  one  chair  in  a  German 
university  is  an  American,  for  another  an  Englishman  born 
in  South  Africa.  In  the  art- world  of  Eome  or  Paris  men 
of  every  nationality  meet  on  all  but  equal  terms.  In  the 
world  of  thought  and  of  art,  as,  indeed,  in  the  poli  tical  world, 
the  local  lines  of  struggle  are  largely  supplanted  by  new 
lines  depending  on  the  different  forms  of  human  activity. 

3.  Importance  of  Reason  as  a  Modifying  Factor. — The 
third  important  factor  modifying  the  simple  working  of 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY     259 

natural  selection,  is  the  fact  that  the  main  source  of 
strength,  and  the  standard  of  fitness  as  well,  are  no  longer 
physical  but  psychical.  Gradually  physical  culture  is  be- 
ing supplanted  by  competition  on  psychical  lines.  The 
conflict  with  nature  is  entirely  transformed  by  man's  power 
of  invention  ;  obstacles  and  hindrances  are  overcome  by  the 
power  of  reason,  and  are  even  utilized  for  human  ends ;  the 
forces  of  nature  are  harnessed  to  do  man's  work  for  him. 
With  the  new  psychical  development  of  imitation,  gains 
like  these  are  passed  on  from  place  to  place  and  from  gen- 
eration to  generation.  Love  of  association  is  developed  into 
new  and  higher  sentiment,  and  the  new  bonds  of  union  no 
outside  force  can  break.  Habits  become  in  man  the  foun- 
dation of  character ;  when  the  infinite  worth  of  moral  char- 
acter is  once  recognized,  new  ends  demand  the  energy  of 
the  man  and  the  social  group,  and  struggle  that  is  really 
social  becomes  an  ethical  struggle  directed  toward  ethical 
ends.  In  fact  all  distinct  and  conscious  recognition  of  the 
future,  all  effort  to  direct  present  activity  in  view  of  pur- 
posed ends,  is  the  work  of  human  reason  modifying  the 
simple  struggle  for  existence.  It  has  indeed  been  argued 
by  Mr.  Benjamin  Kidd  in  a  recent  volume,  that  inasmuch 
as  man's  reason  (i.e.,  his  self-interest)  affords  no  sanction 
for  the  sacrifice  of  the  individual  for  the  good  of  the  race, 
reason  only  tends  to  check  the  operation  of  natural  selec- 
tion. A  larger  view  of  man's  reason,  recognizing  that  each 
gain  in  psychical  power  binds  him  more  closely  to  his  fel- 
lows, and  impels  him  to  work  in  and  for  society,  would 
have  prevented  this  error.  The  presence  of  reason  entirely 
changes  the  form  and  sphere  of  natural  selection,  but  the 
fact  remains. 

Change  in  the  Struggle  for  Existence  which  these  new 
Factors  make. — The  result  of  these  new  factors,  modify- 
ing the  simple  force  of  natural  struggle  and  selection,  can 
hardly  be  over-estimated.  John  Fiske l  looks  forward  to 
the  elimination  of  physical  strife,  and  claims  that  this 
1  Destiny  of  Man,  p.  96. 


260  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

"  means  that  the  universal  struggle  for  existence,  having 
succeeded  in  bringing  forth  that  consummate  product  of 
creative  energy,  the  human  soul,  has  done  its  work,  and 
will  presently  cease."  Darwin  touches  this  question,  at  the 
close  of  his  epoch-making  book,1  in  the  following  words : 
"  Important  as  the  struggle  for  existence  has  been,  and 
even  still  is,  yet  as  far  as  the  highest  part  of  man's  nature 
is  concerned,  there  are  other  agencies  more  important.  For 
the  moral  qualities  are  advanced,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, much  more  through  the  effect  of  habit,  the  reason- 
ing powers,  instruction,  religion,  etc.,  than  through  natural 
selection/' 

The  change  which  Mr.  Fiske,  like  Mr.  Darwin  before 
him,  has  sought  to  signalize  by  limiting  the  phrase  natural 
selection  to  the  lower,  physical  plane,  is  indeed  one  of  the 
greatest  importance.  The  competing  units  are  of  an  en- 
tirely different  type,  the  lines  limiting  struggle  and  se- 
lection have  altered,  the  power  of  reason  and  all  that  it 
implies  have  entirely  changed  the  plane  of  struggle  ;  con- 
sequently the  manner  in  which  the  fittest  survive  can  no 
longer  be  the  same  ;  still,  I  believe,  struggle  remains  as  the 
very  condition  of  life  and  progress. 

The  only  case  in  which  struggle  seems  to  be  eliminated  is 
found  in  a  few  communities  where  two  conditions  are  ap- 
proximately fulfilled — (a)  isolation  from  all  the  rest  of  the 
world,  and  (b)  such  a  social  crystallization  that  each  person 
accepts  his  definite  position  in  the  community  with  no  thought 
of  any  competition  with  others. 

III.  NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY 

Much  as  the  struggle  for  existence  may  be  modified  in 
the  case  of  man,  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  it  should  not 
appear  here,  so  long  as  the  same  conditions  are  present 
alike  in  the  animal  world  and  in  the  distinctly  human  world. 
In  considering  natural  selection  as  the  principle  of  social 

1  Descent  of  Man,  ed.  2,  p.  618. 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN   HUMAN   SOCIETY      261 

development,  I  desire  to  show  (a)  that  the  conditions  which 
produce  straggle  and  compel  selection  in  the  biological 
world  are  found  in  the  world  of  human  society;  (b)  that 
here  also  struggle  is  the  necessary  result  of  these  conditions, 
and  that  it  is  growing  keener,  rather  than  tending  to  dis- 
appear; and  (c)  that  the  consequent  selection  is  at  the  basis 
of  social  development.1 

A.  The  Biological  Conditions  of  Struggle  and  Selec- 
tion.— The  condition  of  struggle  is  multiplication — multi- 
plication so  rapid  that  the  individual  must  vindicate  his 
place  in  the  world  by  superiority  to  companions  for  whom 
there  is  no  place.  The  conditions  of  selection  are  heredity 
with  variability,  and  a  struggle  in  which  only  the  selected 
strong  survive.  Variability  is  necessary,  that  there  may  be 
varieties  between  which  to  select;  heredity,  that  the  se- 
lected variations  may  be  preserved,  and  become  the  start- 
ing-point of  other  useful  variations.  For  organisms  proper, 
struggle,  and  selection,  and  progress,  are  the  necessary  out- 
come of  these  conditions.  In  so  far  as  the  same  conditions 
are  present  in  human  society,  the  result  is  necessarily  the 
same — struggle,  selection,  and  progress  through  selection. 

The  Multiplication  of  Man  follows  a  Similar  Law. — 
Man  is  an  animal,  though  "  a  spark  of  divinity  dwell  in  his 
frame  of  dust " ;  and  as  an  animal,  he  is  subject  to  the 
laws  governing  animal  organisms.  His  rate  of  increase  is 
said  to  be  slower  than  that  of  any  other  animal ;  but  "  even 
slow-breeding  man  has  doubled  in  twenty-five  years,  and 
at  this  rate,  in  less  than  a  thousand  years,  there  would  lit- 
erally not  be  standing-room  for  his  progeny."2  Statistics 
quoted  in  an  earlier  chapter  (Chapter  III.,  p.  83)  prove  that 
the  rate  is  normally  high  enough  to  exert  constant  pressure 
on  the  food-supply.  Where  this  is  not  the  case,  the  race 
degenerates ;  where  this  is  not  the  case  in  a  given  class 
in  society,  that  class  must  be  recruited  constantly  from 
other  classes,  or  it  loses  its  social  position. 

1  The  second  and  third  points  are  discussed  in  the  next  chapter. 
*  Darwin,  Origin  of  Species,  p.  61. 


262 

Mr.  Galton  (Hereditary  Genius,  p.  340)  has  shown,  theoreti- 
cally, the  doom  of  any  class  which  multiplies  less  rapidly  than 
the  rest  of  the  community.  Other  observers  in  France  and 
Germany  find  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  higher  classes  in 
any  form  of  social  activity  are  only  maintained  by  constant 
recruits  "selected  "  from  the  lower  classes. 

In  a  word,  the  same  set  of  facts  are  found  here  as  in  the 
case  of  the  other  animals;  and  here  also  the  necessary  con- 
sequence of  rapid  multiplication  is  struggle  for  existence. 
I  need  hardly  add  that  progress  is  not  favored  by  an  ab- 
normally rapid  rate  of  increase,  either  in  the  case  of  man 
or  of  animals;  natural  selection  itself  favors  the  race  that 
multiplies  just  rapidly  enough  to  produce  a  healthy  strug- 
gle. For  man,  as  for  some  of  the  stronger  animals,  the 
rate  of  increase  is  low  enough,  so  that  relatively  few  actually 
perish  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

Laws  of  Heredity  in  the  Case  of  Man. — In  like  manner, 
the  laws  of  heredity  and  variation  are  the  same  for  man  as 
for  any  other  creature.  Offspring  tend  to  be  like  their 
parents  ;  differences  in  the  two  parents,  and  perhaps  other 
causes,  produce  an  indefinite  number  of  slight  variations  in 
every  child ;  such  variations  as  help  the  child  to  meet 
existing  conditions  are  preserved,  and  ultimately  increased. 
Social  relationships,  and  in  particular  the  institution  of  the 
family,  greatly  modify  the  results  that  appear  under  these 
laws.  The  greatest  change  in  the  results,  however,  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  environment  with  reference  to  which 
selection  is  made,  is  primarily  social.  The  source  of  man's 
strength  lies  in  society;  the  variations  that  aid  him  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  are  mainly  psychical;  consequently, 
physical  variations  of  type  may  be  largely  overlooked,  in 
that  they  have  relatively  little  result  for  man.1 

Multiplication  as  the  Cause  of  Social  Struggle. — The 
multiplication  of  men,  who  are  obliged  to  compete  for  place 
and  food,  is  in  itself  enough  to  transform  every  mode  of 

1  Cf.  John  Fiske,  Destiny  of  Man,  pp.  58-66. 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY      263 

social  activity  into  a  form  of  social  struggle.  In  the  eco- 
nomic world,  constant  readjustments,  in  view  of  varying 
markets  and  new  machinery,  obscure  the  simple  facts  as  to 
the  relation  of  competition  and  population.  It  is  clear, 
however,  that  even  in  times  of  expansion  and  for  the  lowest 
positions  in  the  industrial  world,  a  certain  degree  of  selec- 
tion is  possible.  Among  those  who  are  at  the  bottom  of 
the  scale,  and  indeed  among  the  men  in  any  one  economic 
class,  natural  multiplication  is  ordinarily  rapid  enough  to 
lead  to  struggle  for  position.  Even  in  the  case  of  such  an 
abnormally  rapid  industrial  development  as  that  which 
took  place  in  England  during  the  first  half  of  the  present 
century,  population  followed  the  growth  of  industry  very 
closely;  workers  multiplied  quite  as  rapidly  as  the  positions 
to  be  filled,  and  competition  became  keener,  rather  than 
less  severe. 

In  developed  human  society,  the  biological  factor  leading 
to  struggle  is  far  less  apparent  than  the  social  factor,  by 
which  I  mean  man's  desire  to  secure  a  better  social  position, 
in  order  that  he  may  better  satisfy  his  needs.  Mr.  George 
(quoted  by  Kidd,  Social  Evolution,  p.  259,  n.  1)  says  of 
man,  "  He  is  the  only  animal  whose  desires  increase  as  they 
are  fed,  the  only  animal  that  is  never  satisfied/'  The  re- 
moval of  barriers  between  social  classes  has  gradually  ex- 
tended the  reach  of  social  ambition,  till  it  has  no  more  lim- 
its, except  the  power  of  the  individual's  imagination.  The 
masters  in  the  industrial  world  are,  for  the  most  part,  men 
of  far  vision  and  iron  will,  who  have  striven  toward  a  dis- 
tant goal  till  it  came  within  their  grasp.  In  "social"  life, 
in  the  political  world,  natural  multiplication  necessarily 
leads  to  struggle ;  but  ambition  for  "  social  "  and  political 
position  is  afar  more  important  factor  in  making  the  strug- 
gle intense.  The  higher  any  one  rises,  the  keener  the 
struggle,  for  his  competitors  have  tasted  success,  and  re- 
vealed the  power  to  win,  and  their  appetite  is  only  whetted 
for  more.  The  social  motive  to  struggle  increases  in  some- 
thing like  geometrical  ratio;  the  contest  it  produces  in  the 


264  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

higher  classes  is  often  so  keen  as  to  stand  in  the  way  of  real 
development. 

Conditions  of  Struggle  in  Psychical  Life.— In  the  dis- 
tinctly psychical  forms  of  social  activity,  a  constantly  in- 
creasing number  of  men  seek  to  make  a  place  for  them- 
selves. Whatever  be  the  cause  that  so  large  a  number  seek 
some  standing  in  the  world  of  art  or  of  science,  or  again  in 
the  so-called  learned  professions,  it  is  true  that  an  increas- 
ing number  of  individuals,  desiring  to  attain  a  compara- 
tively limited  number  of  positions,  must  meet  the  same  fate 
as  the  units  that  multiply  rapidly  in  the  biological  world. 
Rapid  multiplication  soon  results  in  a  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, in  which  the  weaker  fall.  The  artists  and  the  law- 
yers who  fail,  are  simply  those  who  have  fallen  out  in  the 
keen  struggle  for  a  particular  kind  of  existence.  The 
highly  educated  German  musician,  who  earns  enough  by 
copying  music  to  pay  a  little  for  board  at  the  poor-house, 
has  failed  because  so  many  others,  in  some  respects  better 
fitted  than  he,  have  entered  the  lists  with  him,  and  made 
the  contest  too  severe.  Simple  multiplication  at  any  one 
point  must  lead  to  struggle ;  but  the  second  factor,  the 
desire  to  secure  a  better  position,  constantly  reinforces  the 
former,  and  its  power  increases  rapidly  as  society  develops. 

Heredity  and  Variation  in  the  Psychical  Sphere. — The 
second  condition  of  selection  in  the  world  of  biology,  viz., 
heredity  and  variation,  must  also  be  fulfilled  here,  if  the 
struggle  thus  produced  is  to  result  in  real  selection  and 
progress  in  the  social  world.  The  laws  of  inheritance  ap- 
ply just  as  much  to  psychical  characteristics  as  to  physi- 
cal ;  qualities  that  aid  parents  in  the  forms  of  social 
struggle  are  preserved  and  intensified  in  their  descendants. 
In  a  stock  of  good  farmers  are  found  at  length  the  qualities 
demanded  by  their  occupation  ;  and  when  natural  capacity 
is  enforced  by  family  tradition,  the  descendant  of  scholars 
or  of  statesmen  may  excel  his  parents  in  their  chosen  field. 
So  many  forces  interfere  with  simple  results  like  these, 
that  their  existence  is  often  denied.  The  family  of  Bach, 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      265 

as  musicians,  of  Adams,  as  statesmen,  seem  to  be  marked 
exceptions.  Still  careful  investigation  discovers  that  psy- 
chical ability  has  antecedents  ;  that  a  family  gradually  lays 
the  foundation  of  industrial,  or  intellectual,  or  ethical 
greatness ;  although  in  its  very  success  are  many  elements 
that  threaten  continued  success. 

If  development  in  the  psychical  sphere  depended  on 
biological  heredity  to  preserve  what  had  been  won,  it  is 
hard  to  see  how  there  could  be  any  development  at  all. 
What  physical  heredity  fails  to  do  is  accomplished  by  a 
sort  of  psychical  heredity.  The  son's  character  and  abil- 
ity depend  quite  as  much  on  home  training  as  on  any 
natural  gifts  ;  the  teacher's  enthusiasm  kindles  the  love  of 
learning  in  some  mind  which  will  penetrate  more  deeply 
than  his  into  the  secrets  of  science ;  the  assistant  physi- 
cian, attending  for  years  upon  a  master's  work,  can  at 
length  achieve  yet  more  wonderful  results.  In  a  country 
where  scholarship  is  honored  and  fostered,  the  results  of 
physical  as  well  as  of  this  so-called  psychical  heredity  are 
preserved  as  the  basis  of  higher  intellectual  developments ; 
and  new  variations  which  increase  a  scholar's  power  are 
preserved.  The  mantle  of  statesman  or  artist  falls  on  the 
apt  pupil,  in  whom  new  variations  with  the  inheritance  of 
tried  qualities  make  further  advance  possible. 

The  Multiplication  of  Social  Groups  Leads  to  Struggle 
between  Them. — If  now  we  turn  from  the  semi-biologi- 
cal ground  of  individualism  to  what  is  distinctly  a  matter 
of  sociology,  still  much  the  same  conditions  are  found. 
The  groups  which  are  the  proper  organs  of  social  life  show 
the  same  tendency  to  multiply  beyond  the  actual  need  for 
them  ;  and  in  the  struggle  that  ensues  slight  variations  from 
the  old  form  determine  the  relative  strength  or  weakness  of 
the  new  forms.  Here  multiplication  beyond  need  leads  to 
competition  ;  variation  within  narrow  limits  is  the  basis  of 
selection  and  so  of  development.  In  the  industrial  world 
facts  of  this  class  are  almost  too  familiar  to  need  illustra- 
tion. Indeed,  the  very  word  which  we  have  been  using  to 


266  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

denote  human  struggle,  the  word  competition,  is  taken 
from  the  industrial  sphere.  In  a  time  of  prosperity,  stores 
and  factories  multiply  beyond  the  normal  need  of  society ; 
all  sorts  of  new  industrial  schemes  are  set  on  foot ;  the  un- 
avoidable result  sooner  or  later  is  a  sharp  struggle  in 
which  only  the  strongest  industrial  groups  can  maintain 
themselves.  The  new  factories  may  some  of  them  have 
been  able  to  combine  better  machinery  and  better  business 
methods  with  what  have  been  found  good  in  previous  trials ; 
in  that  case  the  new  variety  is  better  adapted  to  the  con- 
ditions of  industrial  success,  and  is  "  selected "  by  show- 
ing itself  the  stronger. 

To  take  an  example  from  the  intellectual  activity  of 
society,  we  may  consider  the  planting  of  colleges,  or  indeed 
of  churches,  in  a  territory  that  is  being  rapidly  settled. 
In  the  West  states  are  interested  in  higher  education  as 
part  of  the  state  school  system  ;  individuals  are  interested 
in  higher  education ;  different  religious  denominations 
are  interested  in  education  as  an  element  in  Christian 
training.  Colleges  are  planted  by  these  different  parties 
in  such  number  as  to  more  than  meet  any  present  demand 
on  the  part  of  students ;  so  large  a  number  may  or  may 
not  be  a  good  thing  for  the  interests  of  education ;  in  any 
case  it  inevitably  leads  to  sharp  competition  for  students 
and  for  funds. 

Multiplication  and  Variation  leading  to  Struggle  within 
the  Social  Group. — Perhaps  the  greatest  advances  in  social 
development  have  been  along  the  line  of  greater  stability  ; 
and  this  has  ordinarily  been  attained  by  a  shifting  of  the 
principle  of  multiplication  and  variation  which  we  now  are 
studying.  The  best  example  of  this  is  in  the  political 
sphere,  though  the  same  change  is  taking  place  elsewhere. 
Among  savage  races  political  activity  consists  in  a  struggle 
of  tribe  with  tribe,  in  which  new  political  units  are  ever 
being  formed  in  considerable  number  and  the  weaker  are 
disappearing  entirely  in  the  struggle  to  maintain  them- 
selves. Greece  and  Rome  alike  grappled  unsuccessfully 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY     267 

with  the  principle  of  stable  government,  and  modern 
states  have  been  brought  to  the  verge  of  destruction  by 
failure  to  discover  the  same  principle.  To-day,  however, 
it  is  generally  recognized  that  stability  may  be  secured  by 
permitting  growth  from  within.  The  multiplication  of 
groups  that  stand  for  new  political  ideas  is  encouraged 
within  the  state;  what  could  once  only  be  accomplished  by 
a  revolution  and  overthrow  of  the  existing  government  is 
accomplished  by  a  change  of  party,  the  multiplication  of 
political  groups  that  leads  to  struggle  is  no  longer  multi- 
plication of  states,  but  a  subordinate  principle  of  growth 
within  the  state.  The  same  change  in  the  position  of  mul- 
tiplication and  variation  of  groups  is  appearing  in  intellect- 
ual life,  in  social  life,  and  in  economic  life;  and  the  con- 
sequence is  that  these  forms  of  struggle  are  undergoing  a 
profound  change  with  reference  to  the  permanence  of  the 
social  structure. 

The  Contest  between  Ideas  and  Ideals. — As  the  condi- 
tions of  struggle  and  selection  rise  into  the  really  psychi- 
cal sphere,  they  may  be  studied  simply  as  the  multiplica- 
tion of  new  institutions,  new  ideals,  new  motive-ideas.  In 
fact,  the  rise  of  new  groups  in  any  form  of  social  activity  is 
always  due  in  some  measure  to  the  rise  of  new  ideas,  and  the 
higher  the  society,  the  more  it  depends  on  new  ideas.  In 
the  psychical  life  of  society  is  found  the  ultimate  source  of 
the  conditions  that  lead  to  social  struggle ;  such  being  its 
source,  we  cannot  expect  that  social  struggle  will  ever  dis- 
appear. 

Resume :  The  Conditions  of  Struggle  and  Selection 
are  present  in  Human  Society. — In  the  biological  world, 
multiplication  and  heredity,  with  slight  variations,  led  to 
struggle  and  the  possibility  of  selection.  Considered  from 
various  stand-points,  exactly  the  same  conditions  are  ful- 
filled in  human  society,  and  it  seems  inevitable  (a)  that  the 
multiplication  of  individuals  lead  to  struggle  between  them  ; 
(5)  that  the  multiplication  of  individuals  in  the  same  form 
of  social  activity,  seeking  the  same  ends,  transform  the 


268  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

activity  into  a  struggle  ;  and  (c)  that  the  multiplication  of 
groups  for  the  same  function,  with  the  multiplication  of 
the  institutions  and  ideas  for  which  the  groups  stand,  re- 
sult in  a  struggle  of  group  with  group.  The  new  factors 
that  enter  into  the  struggle  differ  slightly  from  the  earlier 
factors,  so  that  struggle  becomes  a  means  of  selection  be- 
tween the  "varieties/*  and  the  "fittest"  survive. 


CHAPTER  XV 

NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY 
(Continued) 

B.  Struggle  for  Existence  in  Human  Society.     1.  Economic  Activity 

as  a  Struggle  for  Existence — Progress  not  from  Struggle,  but  to 
Higher  Forms  of  Struggle.  2.  "  Social "  Activity  as  a  Struggle 
for  Existence.  3.  Political  Activity  as  a  Struggle — Importance 
of  the  Struggle  between  lesser  Political  Units.  4.  Psychical  Life 
Involves  Struggles,  as  to  New  Ideas  and  Inventions,  New  .ZEsthetic 
and  Ethical  and  Religious  Ideals. 

Changes  in  the  Form  of  Struggle  as  Society  Develops.  1.  Physical 
Struggle  is  Gradually  Raised  to  the  Psychical  Plane.  2.  The  Aim 
comes  to  be  not  Destruction,  but  Supremacy.  3.  Irrational  and 
Rational  Forms  of  Struggle— Change  in  the  Competing  Units  a8 
the  Struggle  becomes  Psychical. 

C.  Survival  of  the  Fittest  as  the  Outcome  of  Struggle.     1.  Survival 

of  the  Fittest  Individuals,  (a)  Biologically  the  Less  Fit  Perish, 
the  Fittest  Survive^and  Increase  most  Rapidly,  und  Rise  in  Social 
Position,  (b)  Economic  Survival;  SociaJ  Apparatus  for  Deter- 
mining it.  (c)  Political  Survival ;  Social  Apparatus  for  Determi- 
ning it.  (d)  Psychical  SurvivaJ ;  Social  Apparatus  for  Determining 
it.  2.  Survival  of  the  Fittest  Groups — Fitness  of  Groups  De- 
termined by  their  Organization — Type  of  Family,  Industrial  Or- 
ganization, Political  Principles,  Standard  of  Right,  of  Truth,  of 
Beauty  :  as  Elements  of  the  Organization  that  Determines  the 
Fitness  of  the  Group — Authority  of  each  is  made  Clear  by  the 
Survival  of  the  Group  which  it  Helps  to  Make  Fit.  3.  The  Sur- 
vival of  the  Fittest  Institutions— Process  of  Survival  of  Social 
Institutions — Authority  and  Stability  of  Institutions,  together  with 
Principle  of  Development  —  Progress  by  the  Survival  of  the 
Fittest. 

B.  Struggle  and  Selection  in  Human  Society. — Having 
seen  that  the  conditions  of  struggle  and  selection  are  pres- 
ent in  the  distinctly  human  world,  we  may  go  on  to  con- 
sider the  facts  of  struggle  and  of  selection  more  in  detail. 

269 


270  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

The  conditions  of  struggle  are  all  but  universal  in  society, 
so  that  all  social  activity  may  be  considered  from  this 
stand-point.  Even  writers  who  regard  society  as  an  organ- 
ism, point  out  a  degree  of  competition  between  different 
functions  and  organs  in  the  animal  organism,  and  profess 
no  surprise  that  with  the  less  rigid  structure  of  society, 
this  competition  or  struggle  becomes  a  far  more  important 
phase  of  all  activity.  It  will  be  convenient  for  us  to  con- 
sider the  forms  of  social  activity  that  were  described  in  an 
earlier  chapter  as  forms  of  social  struggle,  and  then  to 
examine  the  different  planes  of  social  struggle,  and  the 
different  ends  by  which  it  is  dominated. 

i.  Economic  Activity  as  a  Struggle  for  Existence. — 
It  needs  no  second  glance  to  satisfy  one  that  the  conditions 
considered  in  the  last  chapter  render  the  economic  activity 
of  society  what  is  fittingly  called  a  struggle.  Follow  some 
industrial  product  —  as  economists  are  wont  to  do  —  from 
the  factory  up  to  the  time  when  it  is  "consumed."  The 
manufacturer  of  cotton  goods  chooses  between  competing 
places  for  his  factory;  the  makers  of  his  machinery  are 
vying  with  each  other  to  produce  most  economically  the 
engines,  looms,  etc.,  that  are  best  adapted  to  his  work  ; 
raw  products  he  buys  from  sellers  competing  in  the  open 
market ;  labor  he  hires  from  among  men  who  bid  against 
each  other  for  his  work  ;  transportation  companies  com- 
pete with  one  another  in  cheaply  transferring  his  goods  to 
market ;  and  in  the  market,  seller  is  struggling  with  seller 
for  the  privilege  of  a  sale  with  profit ;  buyer  and  seller  bar- 
gain together,  to  agree  on  a  price.  The  present  century 
has  seen  barrier  after  barrier  swept  away,  till  the  whole 
world  enters  more  or  less  freely  into  the  one  struggle  ; 
family  and  social  distinctions  are  being  obliterated  in  the 
industrial  world ;  customs  and  laws  in  restraint  of  trade 
have  been  set  aside. 

Progress  not  from  Struggle,  but  to  Higher  Forms  of 
Struggle. — The  result  of  this  rapid  expansion  of  industrial 
activity  is  to  force  more  clearly  on  thinkers  the  fact  that 


NATURAL   SELECTION   IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      271 

civilization  moves,  not  away  from  struggle,  but  to  new 
forms  of  struggle.  And  the  efforts  to  deal  with  the  many 
difficulties  which  have  arisen  from  this  sudden  change, 
make  it  clear  that  it  is  not  by  seeking  to  put  an  end  to  con- 
flict, but  by  modifying  its  forms,  that  progress  will  be 
made.  For  instance,  a  great  strike  may  be  fought  to  the 
bitter  end,  and  settled  by  the  complete  exhaustion  of  either 
employers  or  employed  ;  but  the  only  genuine  settlement 
of  industrial  difficulties  has  been  gained  when  both  sides 
were  ready  to  listen  to  reason,  and  thus  to  elevate  the 
clashing  of  interests  to  this  higher  plane.  Laborers  who 
suffered  cruelly  in  an  unequal  struggle,  have  won  their 
rights  by  combining  and  entering  the  struggle  as  a  larger 
unit — but  only  when  they  could  shift  the  contest  to  a 
higher  plane  than  that  of  brute  force,  and  gain  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  community  in  their  behalf.  Groups  of  co- 
operating buyers  have  united  to  do  away  with  the  petty 
competition  of  retail  stores,  by  elevating  competition  to  a 
more  reasonable  plane.  Nor  are  the  greatest  monopolies 
of  the  day  altogether  free  from  the  higher  forms  of  pres- 
sure in  the  economic  struggle,  uncontrolled  as  they  may 
often  seem  for  a  time. 

2.  "  Social "  Activity  as  a  Struggle  for  Existence. — 
"  Social "  activity  means  social  struggle.  Normally,  the 
conflict  of  class  with  class  on  this  line  is  not  so  intense  as 
the  economic  struggle,  yet  the  same  forces  which  have 
been  removing  geographical  and  political  and  social  bar- 
riers in  the  economic  world,  have  also  been  at  work  in  the 
"social"  world.  In  particular,  the  extension  of  the  bal- 
lot with  the  new  idea  of  rights  which  goes  with  the  bal- 
lot, and  the  increasing  respect  for  the  power  that  goes  with 
wealth,  have  done  much  to  break  down  old  social  lines. 
And  when  once  the  position  of  a  class  or  an  individual  is 
questioned,  it  must  constantly  be  asserted.  Thus  the  strug- 
gle between  social  classes  is  intensified,  the  effort  on  the 
part  of  each  family  to  secure  "  social  position "  becomes 
very  earnest,  and  all  social  intercourse  intensifies  the  strug- 


272  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

gle  for  position.  In  many  parts  of  the  earth,  the  contact  of 
different  races  has  roused  social  ambitions  in  the  one,  and 
hatreds  in  the  other,  till  the  very  structure  of  society  is 
threatened.  The  determining  factor  in  this  contest  was 
once  a  military  force  that  assigned  each  man  his  place  ;  the 
social  power  which  all  men  recognize  to-day  is  the  power  of 
wealth ;  still  it  is  growing  clearer  that  the  real  power  be- 
hind the  army  and  behind  the  wealth  is  intellectual,  and  it 
is  on  this  plane  of  intellectual  power  that  social  recognition 
is  to  be  sought  in  the  future. 

With  all  the  modification  that  civilization  brings,  the 
struggle  for  females  still  remains  as  a  competition  between 
men  for  the  hand  of  a  desired  wife.  An  "  attractive  "  wom- 
an is  one  whose  society  many  seek  and  enjoy  ;  the  favored 
suitor  is  he  who  best  meets  the  woman's  ideal  of  a  husband. 
The  contest  remains,  though  it  has  been  elevated  from 
the  domain  of  physical  force,  and  away  from  a  parent's 
power,  into  the  sphere  of  choice. 

3.  Political  Activity  as  a  Struggle  for  Existence. — 
The  contest  between  states  for  power  is  the  earliest  kind  of 
human  struggle  to  attract  attention,  and  in  the  form  of 
war  it  is  the  last  kind  of  struggle  to  leave  the  purpose  of 
destruction  and  the  plane  of  physical  force.  It  should 
never  be  forgotten,  however,  that  to-day  war  is  the  least 
important  part  of  that  contest  between  states  which  receives 
so  much  of  public  attention.  The  phrase  "  balance  of 
power  "  may  not  be  a  true  political  ideal,  but  it  expresses 
the  statesman's  recognition  of  the  contest  of  states  as  some- 
thing far  more  than  the  military  form  of  this  contest.  Each 
state  holds  its  own  with  reference  to  every  other  state  by 
their  consent  and  its  power  to  win  their  consent ;  and  the 
external  life  of  the  state  is  a  constant  effort  to  increase  its 
relative  power  and  thus  to  raise  its  relative  position.  War 
becomes  less  frequent,  and  men  may  fondly  dream  that  it 
can  be  abolished.  If  this  goal  is  ever  attained,  it  will  not 
be  by  putting  an  end  to  international  contests,  but  by  rais- 
ing these  contests  to  a  higher  and  more  rational  plane. 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY     273 

The  fact  of  international  struggle  is  simply  the  fact  of  in- 
ternational life. 

Within  the  state  the  contest  of  smaller  political  units 
(towns  or  "states")  for  power  is  generally  not  important 
except  when  localities  and  political  parties  coincide.  In  the 
United  States  the  interests  of  North  and  South  may  come 
into  apparent  conflict,  and  lead  to  the  bitterest  civil  war  ; 
"  silver  "  states  may  be  at  variance  with  "  capitalist"  states, 
agricultural  with  manufacturing  states — but  this  is  not  a 
contest  with  reference  to  the  relative  power  of  these  polit- 
ical sub-units  so  much  as  a  contest  of  interests  and  of  par- 
ties. Within  the  state  the  most  important  form  of  political 
struggle  is  the  struggle  between  political  parties.  Their 
contest  for  power  reaches  from  the  smallest  district  to  the 
whole  nation.  It  is  carried  on  not  only  in  the  election  of 
officers,  but  in  the  administration  of  government  and  the 
legislation  of  assemblies.  The  party  of  the  majority  is  the 
power  behind  the  throne,  and  other  parties  are  supposed  to 
hold  the  first  party  to  its  true  task  by  their  opposition. 
The  very  life  of  the  modern  state  depends  on  the  struggle 
of  parties  ;  progress  consists  in  the  elevation  of  this  strug- 
gle out  of  the  sphere  of  physical  force  into  the  sphere  of 
reason  ;  and  in  so  far  as  this  form  of  struggle  is  civilized 
and  its  plane  elevated,  it  becomes  the  fit  instrument  for  the 
expression  of  the  people's  will. 

4.  Psychical  Life  as  Involving  Struggle — Each  of  the 
forms  of  struggle  that  have  just  been  considered,  rises  at 
times  to  the  social  or  rational  plane,  and  then  it  is  properly 
called  psychical.  The  appeal  to  force  does  remain  in  the 
background,  and  is  a  factor  that  cannot  be  neglected  ;  but 
we  have  seen  examples  of  political  parties  based  on  princi- 
ples, we  have  known  economic  and  social  struggles  to  be 
raised  to  the  intellectual  plane,  and  to  be  settled  at  the  bar 
of  the  people's  reason.  The  tendency  to  bring  down  all 
psychical  questions  into  the  sphere  of  brute  force,  or,  at 
least,  to  settle  them  by  numerical  majorities  of  unthinking 
voters,  is  a  danger  likely  to  become  quite  as  great  in  the 


274  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

future  as  in  the  past.  Yet  contests  of  ideas  and  of  ideals 
belong  to  the  very  nature  of  psychical  life,  and  we  could 
not  avoid  them  even  if  foolishly  we  would. 

The  intellectual  life  of  a  people  is  vigorous  when  new 
ideas  are  brought  forward  in  prolific  abundance,  and  sharply 
criticised.  As  for  example  one  man  has  urged  the  view 
that  the  seat  of  the  race  was  originally  at  the  North  Pole, 
another  has  claimed  that  his  lymph  would  cure  consump- 
tion, and  still  others  are  urging  that  the  adoption  of  a  sil- 
ver monetary  standard,  or  the  control  of  industry  by  the 
state,  would  be  a  panacea  for  social  and  economic  evils. 
The  attempt  may  be  made  to  settle  such  questions  by  force, 
as  Galileo  was  cast  into  prison,  and  as  advocates  of  the 
theory  of  evolution  have  been  solemnly  damned  for  all 
eternity.  But  when  they  are  fairly  discussed  and  judged 
by  the  standard  of  truth,  the  severest  standard  by  which 
they  can  be  judged,  the  intellectual  contest  over  such  ideas 
is  the  mark  of  intellectual  life  and  intellectual  progress. 

The  Contest  over  New  Ideas. — Sometimes  the  form  of 
struggle  under  discussion  is  described  as  a  contest  of  ideas 
themselves,  but  the  value  of  the  figure  of  speech  is,  to  say 
the  least,  questionable.  The  process  is  somewhat  as  follows. 
One  man,  or  it  may  be  several  men  contemporaneously, 
perceive  the  inadequacy  of  an  accepted  belief.  He  states 
the  truth  in  a  new  and  larger  form,  and  seeks  to  persuade 
the  world  that  his  statement  is  correct.  Darwin  finds  that 
the  principle  of  natural  selection  explains,  in  a  new  and 
more  satisfactory  way,  the  facts  as  to  the  origin  of  species. 
At  first  only  a  few,  whose  thoughts  had  all  but  anticipated 
Darwin's,  are  ready  to  accept  the  view  thus  propounded. 
The  little  group  win  new  adherents  by  urging  their  belief 
on  popular  attention  ;  the  statement  of  its  views  is  slightly 
modified  as  further  light  is  thrown  on  the  question.  After 
more  than  a  generation  has  passed,  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple is  generally  accepted,  and  the  contest  is  continued  be- 
tween those  who  believe  in  the  inheritance  of  acquired 
characteristics  and  the  party  who  follow  the  lead  of  Weis- 


NATURAL   SELECTION   IN   HUMAN   SOCIETY      275 

mann  in  denying  it.  The  spread  of  education  among  the 
people  has  extended  the  number  of  those  who  engage  in 
discussions  of  scientific  questions,  and  has  given  rise  to  new 
dangers  ;  but,  provided  the  discussion  can  be  conducted  on 
its  proper  plane,  the  widening  of  the  intellectual  struggle 
Avill  be  a  widening  and  deepening  of  intellectual  life. 

Ethical  and  Artistic  Life  involves  Struggle — All  prog- 
ress in  ethics  and  in  art  is  due  to  the  same  principle.  In  a 
world  which  found  slavery  convenient  and  useful,  the  strug- 
gle in  behalf  of  the  new  conception  of  humanity  had  to  be 
prosecuted  nearly  two  thousand  years  before  it  could  finally 
win.  Where  ethical  life  was  vigorous,  the  war  against  the 
slaveholder  was  sharpest ;  and,  when  the  battle  was  won  by 
reason,  ancestral  custom  and  economic  interest  could  not 
long  hold  out  against  emancipation.  Standards  of  right  in 
business  and  in  politics  are  being  sharply  criticised  to-day. 
The  struggle  is  sharper  because  these  particular  standards 
have  fallen  behind  the  real  ethical  standard  of  the  day  ; 
but  the  man  or  the  party  who  represents  a  standard  either 
in  advance  of  public  opinion,  or  behind  public  opinion,  has 
the  same  sort  of  struggle  to  engage  in.  The  effort  to  se- 
cure a  wiser  treatment  of  the  dependent  class,  the  agitation 
in  favor  of  uniform  and  more  strict  marriage  laws,  the  tern- 
perance  movement,  are  different  forms  of  the  struggle  for 
ethical  standards  in  the  life  of  the  community.  When 
John  Howard  discovered  the  evils,  sanitary  and  moral, 
which  characterized  the  prisons  of  France  and  of  all  Eu- 
rope, it  was  no  easy  task  to  secure  a  higher  standard  for 
the  treatment  of  prisoners.  A  life  was  spent  and  sacrificed 
in  the  cause  of  reform  before  much  was  accomplished ;  and, 
after  more  than  a  century,  the  contest  is  still  being  waged 
between  those  who  are  content  with  lax  methods  and  the 
party  that  demands  a  radical  reformation  in  the  treatment 
of  criminals.  Each  new  proposition  as  to  conduct,  each 
new  ideal,  has  to  win  its  way  on  grounds  of  reason  ;  and 
when  the  ethical  life  of  a  society  is  vigorous,  the  contests 
may  be  intense  and  prolonged.  The  special  intensity  of  the 


276  INTRODUCTION  TO  SOCIOLOGY 

ethical  struggle  is  due  to  the  fact  that  each  party  believes 
it  stands  for  the  right ;  conscience  is  enlisted  on  each  side, 
and  the  very  basis  of  right  itself  seems  to  be  at  stake. 
The  contest  is  carried  on  by  parties,  and,  it  may  be, 
their  strength  is  occasionally  tested  by  vote  ;  but  it  is  really 
a  question  as  to  principles,  and  the  final  conclusion  can 
only  be  reached  on  the  ground  of  reasonable  discussion. 

Conflict  as  the  Principle  of  Development  in  Religion. — 
Nor  is  the  sphere  of  religion  exempt  from  conflict.  Parties 
and  schools  of  thought  in  the  Roman  Church,  sects  as  well 
as  schools  in  the  Protestant  Church,  are  signs  of  the  effort 
to  grasp  truth  on  different  sides,  and  so  to  reach  a  deeper 
knowledge  of  God.  Questions  as  to  the  future  state,  the 
authority  and  inspiration  of  the  scriptures,  and  the  apos- 
tolic succession,  are  discussed,  sometimes  it  is  true  with 
bitterness,  and  yet  with  a  genuine  desire  to  reach  the  truth. 
Many  a  religion  has  been  propagated  by  the  sword,  and  the 
power  of  the  majority  vote  is  still  invoked  in  some  churches 
to  determine  what  the  truth  must  be,  and  what  the  right 
shall  be.  On  the  lower  plane,  conflict  is  divisive,  and  a 
hindrance  to  the  work  of  the  church  ;  and  yet  struggle  is 
as  necessary  for  religious  life  and  religious  growth  as  it 
is  for  advance  in  any  other  line.  Here  again  the  only  ques- 
tion is  with  reference  to  the  plane  on  which  struggle  shall 
be  conducted. 

Change  in  the  Form  of  Conflict. —  In  considering  the 
forms  of  social  activity  as  forms  of  a  struggle  for  existence, 
it  has  not  been  possible  to  overlook  the  fact  that  struggle 
in  human  society  is  undergoing  a  most  important  change. 
Like  all  other  social  phenomena,  it  grows  more  complex 
as  new  forms  arise  out  of  the  old  simpler  forms ;  but  the 
change  that  has  been  forced  on  our  attention  is  more  im- 
portant than  any  change  in  outward  form.  Social  conflict 
changes  its  entire  character  as  it  is  raised  from  the  physi- 
cal to  the  psychical  plane,  as  it  is  actuated  by  social  rather 
than  biological  ends,  and  as  the  units  which  enter  into  it 
become  really  human  units. 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY     277 

Physical  Struggle  in  Human  Society.  —  Even  among 
animals,  what  we  call  "brute  force"  is  by  no  means  the 
only  factor  that  determines  the  survivor  ;  but  the  struggle 
is  primarily  a  physical  struggle  in  which  the  survivor 
grows  fat  and  the  weaker  dies.  With  the  development  of 
human  society,  this  side  of  the  struggle  is  only  gradually 
forced  into  the  background.  In  economic  life,  slavery 
rested  on  the  confessed  basis  of  superior  force,  and  even 
to-day  the  strike  is  often  intended  as  a  trial  of  strength 
between  employer  and  employed.  It  is  only  dreamers  who 
look  forward  to  anything  like  the  elimination  of  war  in  the 
near  future.  Even  in  the  intellectual  and  the  religious 
sphere  the  ballot  is  invoked  as  the  power  of  the  majority, 
rather  than  the  power  of  reason.  Germany  undertakes  to 
assimilate  Alsace-Lorraine,  as  the  German  element  in 
Austria-Hungary  has  attempted  to  denationalize  certain 
other  elements  of  the  population,  by  forcing  its  language 
and  its  institutions  on  the  conquered  people. 

i.  Struggle  raised  to  the  Psychical  Plane — Struggle  on 
the  physical  plane  continues  in  the  most  advanced  forms 
of  human  society,  but  it  is  gradually  being  supplanted  by 
conflict  on  a  higher  plane.  Cunning  stratagem  and  the 
strength  that  comes  from  union  are  important  factors  in 
the  struggle  of  animals,  and  in  the  case  of  primitive  man 
they  become  the  decisive  factors.  As  society  develops,  the 
slave  gives  way  to  the  serf,  and  the  serf  to  the  hired 
servant,  in  economic  life.  The  state  gains  many  of  its 
ends  from  other  states  by  diplomatic  means,  and,  where 
this  fails,  some  questions  are  settled  by  arbitration.  The 
Spanish  Inquisition  is  gone,  and  the  newspaper  in  some 
measure  takes  its  place.  On  the  higher  plane,  conflict  is 
certainly  more  general ;  rightly  understood,  it  is  keener 
than  it  could  have  been  on  the  lower  plane.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  a  spirt  of  harmony  often  exists  between 
contending  parties,  as  between  knights-errant  of  old,  and 
it  is  more  evident  than  ever  before  that  conflict  is  the  nor- 
mal form  of  development. 


278  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

2.  Its  Aim  comes  to  be,  not  Destruction,  but  Supremacy. 

— As  struggle  in  human  society  is  raised  from  the  physical 
to  the  psychical  plane,  a  new  end  or  purpose  controls  those 
who  engage  in  it,  and  its  whole  character  is  changed.  In 
the  really  human  struggle  for  existence,  the  aim  is  not  de- 
struction but  supremacy ;  man  looks  beyond  the  immedi- 
ate present,  he  seeks  not  so  much  to  meet  his  needs  as  to 
provide  a  way  by  which  he  and  those  who  work  with  him 
may  have  their  needs  met  regularly  in  the  future.  The 
difference  to  which  I  refer  is  the  difference  between  the 
hunter  and  the  herdsman,  between  the  race  that  eats  the 
bananas  provided  by  nature  and  the  race  that  cultivates 
wheat.  The  one  destroys  what  he  touches,  the  other  be- 
comes master  of  it  and  makes  it  subservient  to  his  future 
needs.  The  one  acts  irrationally  and  independently  of  so- 
ciety; the  other  rationally,  on  the  basis  of  society  and  for 
society. 

3.  Irrational  and  Rational,  Human,  Forms  of  Struggle. 
— So  in  the  struggle  of  man  with  man,  the  aim  comes  to  be, 
not  destruction,  but  supremacy.     Savage  man  may  be  more 
cunning,  and  better  able  to  unite  with  his  neighbor,  and 
better  able  to  profit  by  his  neighbor's  experience,  than 
even  the  higher  animals,  but  in  the  struggle  of  man  with 
man  the  aim  is  to  destroy  adversaries,  and  presumably  to 
eat  them.     Very  early  in  human  history  the  truly  human, 
rational,  form  of  struggle  must  have  begun,  but  the  traces 
of  it  among  savage  races  are  hardly  to  be  found,  and  its 
progress  with  the  passing  centuries  has  been  slow  enough 
at  best.     As  it  has  gradually  supplanted  the  lower,  animal, 
type  of  struggle,  the  foundations  of  civilization  have  been 
laid,  and  the  reign  of  reason  has  begun.     The  man  strug- 
gles with  other  men  in  many  diverse  lines  that  he  may  win 
supremacy,  while  he  and  they  alike  profit  from  the  new 
relation.     The  captive  is  retained  as  a  slave,  and  then  as  a 
servant ;  in  later  times  tribute  is  exacted,  and  the  con- 
quered people  is  left  as  a  source  of  revenue ;  at  length  it  is 
enough  that  the  authority  of  the  conqueror  be  recognized, 


NATURAL   SELECTION  IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      279 

and  the  conquered  race  is  admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of 
citizenship.  In  the  first  instance  the  conquered  remain, 
but  their  civic  life  is  destroyed ;  the  exaction  of  tribute 
cripples  the  independent  existence  of  the  conquered  race, 
and  brings  no  lasting  benefit  to  the  conqueror  ;  but  when 
at  length  the  conquered  race  can  be  fused  into  the  life  of 
the  superior  race,  the  foundations  of  future  greatness  may 
be  securely  laid.  The  struggle  for  wealth  follows  much 
the  same  course  as  the  struggle  for  power.  First,  destruc- 
tion of  the  fortunate  to  secure  his  good  feeding-grounds ; 
then  repeated  pillagings,  destroying  crops,  but  leaving 
those  who  will  raise  more  ;  then  a  regular  tribute,  or  an 
effort  to  secure  this  by  taxing  imports ;  and,  finally,  free 
commerce,  for  at  length  men  recognize  that  this  is  the 
surest  way  for  even  the  stronger  to  secure  wealth.  The 
new  form  of  struggle  deserves  the  name  social,  because  it 
depends  on  present  social  conditions,  and  aims  to  extend 
rather  than  to  destroy  them.  It  is  called  rational,  because 
it  keeps  in  view  the  future  as  well  as  the  present,  and  pur- 
sues the  lines  which  will  in  the  end  be  most  sure  to  make 
society  more  human  and  more  reasonable. 

Change  in  the  Competing  Units  on  the  Psychical  Plane. 
— Finally  the  change  in  the  form  of  conflict  modifies  the 
competing  units.  The  change  from  groups  determined  by 
territorial  lines,  to  groups  determined  by  class  lines,  has 
already  been  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and  I  need 
only  refer  to  it  once  more  at  this  point.  Struggle  on  the 
lower  physical  plane  is  carried  on  between  units  that  may 
be  called  physical ;  it  makes  little  difference  whether  they 
are  individuals  or  groups  that  find  their  unity  in  some 
physical  cause  (kinship  or  locality).  The  social  group,  in 
a  more  strict  sense  of  the  term,  the  true  element  in  human 
society,  arises  in  struggle  on  the  psychical  plane  ;  and  its 
character  becomes  more  distinct  and  definite  as  human 
struggle  assumes  its  proper  form.  The  change  from  lower 
to  higher  stages  in  the  development  of  society  is  often  de- 
scribed as  the  growth  of  individualism,  and  the  new  duties 


280  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

and  rights  of  the  individual  in  the  economic  or  the  political 
world  are  brought  in  as  evidence  of  it.  The  truth  is  that  a 
simple  struggle  between  simple  groups  is  being  succeeded 
by  a  complex  struggle  between  different  kinds  of  units. 
The  individual  is  freed  from  numberless  territorial  and 
social  limitations  that  hampered  and  protected  him,  but 
the  competition  in  which  he  engages  is  limited  in  a  new 
way.  Not  only  does  increasing  differentiation  effectively 
limit  the  number  with  whom  he  competes,  but  much  of  the 
burden  of  struggle  is  shifted  from  the  shoulders  of  the  iso- 
lated individual  to  the  group  of  which  he  is  a  member. 
Group  competes  with  group,  and  the  individual  competes 
only  with  the  other  members  of  the  group.  The  human 
family  shields  its  members  from  all  the  rest  of  the  world, 
but  even  here  an  emulation  within  the  bonds  of  affectionate 
union  is  a  source  of  strength.  The  town  removes  some 
phases  of  the  struggle  for  existence  from  each  citizen,  the 
state  removes  many  others  ;  but  within  each  political  unit 
other  ends  call  out  the  energy  of  the  individual  citizen. 
The  manufacturer,  in  competing  with  other  manufacturing 
groups,  removes  from  his  workmen  much  of  the  stress  of 
economic  struggle,  but,  within  definite  lines,  the  workman 
has  only  the  more  bitter  a  battle  to  fight.  In  the  higher 
form  of  social  activity,  the  simple  conflict  of  physical 
groups  is  supplanted  by  an  exceedingly  complex  struggle, 
in  which  each  individual  and  the  group  uniting  to  perform 
each  phase  of  social  activity  are  the  units  that  rise  or  fall 
according  to  their  fitness. 

C.  Survival  of  the  Fittest  as  the  Outcome  of  Struggle 

In  the  consideration  of  social  struggle,  which  has  thus 
far  occupied  our  attention,  it  has  been  tacitly  assumed  that 
the  outcome  of  struggle  is  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  inas- 
much as  it  was  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter  that  the 
conditions  which  cause  survival  of  the  fittest  are  present  in 
the  truly  human  world,  as  much  as  in  the  physical  world. 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      281 

It  is  true  that  the  definition  of  "  fittest  "  has  constantly 
changed,  as  struggle  has  been  raised  to  higher  planes. 
Strength  and  speed  once  constituted  fitness ;  they  have 
been  supplanted  by  cunning  and  alertness,  and  these  in 
turn  by  intellectual  keenness  and  the  power  of  association. 
The  environment  of  man  has  grown  far  more  complex 
with  civilization,  and  with  the  standard  of  fitness  the  sur- 
viving kind  has  changed.  None  the  less,  the  law  of  natural 
selection  remains  the  same  for  man  as  for  the  biological  or- 
ganism ;  the  fittest  show  their  character  by  surviving  in  the 
struggle  for  existence  ;  struggle  is  a  process  of  selection, 
and  so  of  progress.  The  law  applies,  not  alone  to  individ- 
ual men,  but  to  all  the  units  that  multiply  with  slight  varia- 
tion and  compete  in  the  social  world.  Individual  men  are 
"  selected/'  as  fitter  for  their  place  than  their  competitors. 
The  fittest  group  in  each  form  of  social  struggle  shows  its 
fitness  by  surviving,  and  with  the  group  survive  and  are 
perpetuated  its  institutions.  Language,  and  philosophy, 
and  ethics,  the  form  of  state  or  of  the  family  that  make 
their  respective  groups  "fittest," are  the  institutions  that 
survive  and  are  perpetuated,  and  their  authority  is  the 
outcome  of  their  success. 

i.  Survival  of  the  Fittest  Individuals. — The  survival 
of  the  fittest  can  best  be  understood  by  a  study  of  the  units 
that  survive.  I  speak,  therefore,  of  the  survival  of  indi- 
viduals, of  groups,  and  of  institutions  (using  the  word 
"  institution  "  in  a  broad  sense). 

Man  Subject  to  the  Biological  Law. — The  contest  and 
survival  of  individuals  is  an  outgrowth  of  struggle  and 
survival  in  the  biological  world,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  it 
never  entirely  loses  its  original  character.  In  the  compe- 
tition of  organisms,  those  best  adapted  to  given  physical 
conditions  survive  and  multiply  their  kind  ;  disease,  fam- 
ine, and  beasts  of  prey  destroy  the  less  fit.  The  same 
forces  have  not  lost  their  power  to  destroy  the  less  fit 
among  men.  Consumption,  fever,  or  malaria  finds  a  foot- 
ing in  weaker  constitutions  ;  and  we  know  the  survivors  to 


282  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

be  "tougher,"  from  the  fact  that  they  survive.  Hunger 
and  want  and  cold  do  not  permit  the  more  delicate  to  live  ; 
the  fittest  to  meet  these  conditions  survive  longest.  The 
beast  of  prey,  and  man's  most  cruel  enemy,  who  is  man 
himself,  catch  the  weaker,  the  faint-hearted,  the  head  that 
is  not  cool.  A  generation  has  passed  since  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war,  and  the  young  men  enlisted  in  France  in 
1894  *  are  said  to  have  been  a  finer  set  of  men  physically 
than  had  ever  been  examined  in  that  country  before.  It  is 
said  that  a  generation  after  any  of  the  great  wars  of  Eu- 
rope, the  population  born  of  those  who  survived  the  war 
has  been  of  higher  grade  than  before  or  after. 

The  "  Fittest  "  Type  Increases  most  Rapidly. — In  the 
case  of  man,  another  factor  is  more  important  here  than 
the  mere  continuation  of  the  individual's  life.  Under  dif- 
ferent physical  and  social  conditions,  man's  rate  of  in- 
crease differs  as  does  that  of  no  other  animal.  The  survi- 
val of  a  type  of  individual  depends  mainly  on  the  relative 
number  of  children  brought  to  maturity  by  those  who  rep- 
resent that  type.  As  Lapouge  has  pointed  out,2  if  we  sup- 
pose a  difference  in  the  number  of  mature  offspring  of  three 
in  one  family  to  four  in  another,  and  suppose  this  differ- 
ence to  be  kept  up,  in  the  fifth  generation  the  offspring  of 
one  family  will  number  more  than  three  times  those  of  the 
other.  And  if  we  suppose  the  influence  of  a  higher  death- 
rate  to  be  added  to  the  influence  of  a  lesser  birth-rate,  it 
becomes  evident  that  one  type  of  man  may  all  but  disap- 
pear before  a  type  that  is  physically  superior,  in  a  very 
few  generations.  Perhaps  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  remind 
the  reader  that  the  "  fittest "  type  from  this  physical  stand- 
point is  not  the  highest  type  socially,  or  intellectually,  or 
morally  ;  nor  yet  is  it  the  lowest.  In  Germany,  the  peas- 
ant class  is  called  the  basis  of  society ;  in  every  country, 
the  future  of  the  nation  depends  primarily  on  that  class 

1  V.  Ammon,  Die  Gesellschaftsordnung  und  ihre  naturliche  Grund- 
lagen,  S.  238. 
*  Revue  Internationale  de  Sociologie,  I. 


NATURAL  SELECTION   IN  HUMAN   SOCIETY      283 

which  raises  up  men  to  inherit  its  culture,  and  to  carry  on 
its  work. 
The  "  Fittest "  Type  Rises  in  Social  Struggles.— In  the 

truly  human  struggle,  comparatively  few  individuals  are 
thrown  together  in  each  form  of  struggle,  and  the  end  is 
not  mere  survival,  but  social  survival.  I  mean  that  man 
seeks  not  only  to  get  food,  but  to  secure  a  better  and  bet- 
ter social  position.  He  shows  himself  to  be  "  more  fit "  by 
surviving  and  having  children,  but  also  by  holding  his  orig- 
inal place,  and  securing  a  higher  place  in  society  as  the 
outcome  of  struggle.  The  printer's  boy  advances  by  com- 
mon-sense, pluck,  and  skill,  till  he  can  set  up  for  himself  ; 
the  small  office  becomes  a  large  printing  establishment ; 
and  at  length  the  successful  printer  ventures  in  the  field 
of  publishing,  where  the  same  qualities  win  him  success  a 
second  time.  In  all  his  struggle,  in  all  human  struggle, 
the  aim  is  "social"  survival  ;  he  shows  his  fitness  for  the 
difficult  and  delicate  duties  of  high  position,  and  being 
the  fittest,  he  survives  all  his  competitors  by  rising  out  of 
the  lower  kind  of  competition. 

Apparatus  for  determining  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest. 
— The  actual  outcome  of  the  social  process  in  which  the 
more  fit  tend  to  survive  and  multiply  (physical  survival  of 
the  fittest),  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  rise  to  higher  posi- 
tions in  society  (social  survival  of  the  fittest),  depends 
largely  on  the  organization  of  a  given  society.  In  order  to 
attain  the  necessary  unity  and  rigidity,  a  society  (uncon- 
sciously) sets  close  limits  to  its  constituent  classes.  The 
exceedingly  unfit  may  be  thrown  out  of  a  given  class,  but 
there  is  no  regular  channel  by  which  the  better  man  can 
rise  to  the  position  for  which  he  is  adapted.  Rigid  barriers, 
once  useful  to  society,  have  now  been  quite  generally  re- 
moved ;  and  with  the  removal  of  barriers  has  constantly 
been  associated  a  more  or  less  definite  apparatus  for  weed- 
ing out  the  unfit,  and  advancing  those  who  are  fit  for  bet- 
ter things.  In  the  contest  for  industrial  position,  the 
laborer  who  can  most  economically  perform  a  given  task  ia 


284  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

the  only  one  to  whom  an  employer  can  afford  to  give  that 
task.  Each  industrial  crisis  constitutes  a  severe  test  for 
everyone  in  the  industrial  world ;  the  less  fit  are  thrown 
out  of  their  place,  at  whatever  point  in  the  industrial  world 
their  place  may  be.  The  so-called  "out  of  work  "  class 
simply  consists  of  those  whose  work  cannot  be  utilized, 
either  temporarily  or  permanently.  During  periods  of  in- 
dustrial expansion,  the  man  of  wisdom,  skill,  and  vigor 
expects  advancement,  because  new  positions  are  being  cre- 
ated for  which  these  are  the  only  recommendation.  In  the 
economic  struggle,  advancement  and  testing  for  fitness  are 
partially  separated  by  the  present  type  of  social  organiza- 
tion. In  "social"  intercourse  barriers  are  rather  more 
rigid,  and  the  apparatus  for  determining  the  survival  of  the 
fittest  is  less  fully  developed.  Nevertheless,  marked  cases 
of  unfitness  are  weeded  out  of  their  class,  and  disapproba- 
tion, expressed  in  many  forms,  drives  them  elsewhere. 
Conversely,  those  who  are  endowed  with  truly  social  gifts 
of  brightness,  friendliness,  and  delicate  perception  find  a 
welcome  in  social  circles  called  higher  than  their  own,  and 
rise  by  the  admiration  they  command. 

Apparatus  for  determining  Survivalin  Political  Life. — 
In  political  life,  the  facts  of  survival  and  of  failure  to  sur- 
vive, the  machinery  for  advancing  the  better  and  weeding 
out  the  poorer,  cannot  escape  the  observer's  notice.  Take, 
for  example,  the  German  army.1  The  number  competing 
for  each  position  seems  unduly  large.  An  officer  is  thrown 
out  of  his  command  for  what  would  seem  a  trivial  failure — 
some  lack  in  a  parade,  for  which  he  has  only  the  remotest 
responsibility,  some  jealousy  on  the  part  of  fellow-officers, 
some  harsh  word  that  rankles  in  the  mind  of  a  subordinate. 
Undoubtedly  many  excellent  soldiers  are  thrown  out  by 
such  methods.  The  result,  however,  is  that  only  the 
most  cautious,  the  wisest,  the  most  courageous,  are  ad- 
vanced. Compared  with  a  system  where  seniority,  pure 

'  Cf .  Amtnon.  Die  Gesellschaftsordnung  und  ihre  natiirliche  Grund- 
lagen.  S.  226  seq. 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN   HUMAN  SOCIETY      285 

and  simple,  is  the  test  of  fitness,  the  superiority  of  the 
German  system  is  only  too  apparent.  Or,  if  we  look  at  the 
English  Civil  Service  system,  we  find  an  elaborate  appar- 
atus set  up  by  society,  to  throw  out  candidates  for  office 
who  lack  some  simple  qualifications,  and  to  advance  to 
severer  tests  those  who  have  these  qualifications.  In  other 
countries,  where  the  fitness  of  those  appointed  to  office 
seems  wholly  lacking,  the  explanation  is  found  in  the  social 
apparatus  for  determining  who  are  the  fit.  Good  fellow- 
ship, political  trickery,  and  cunning,  some  reciprocal  ser- 
vice to  the  appointing  power — these  and  similar  qualifica- 
tions too  commonly  constitute  the  test  of  fitness,  by  which 
a  nation  permits  candidates  for  office  to  rise  or  fall.  Men 
gain  political  office,  or  lose  it,  as  they  are  adapted  to  pres- 
ent conditions.  A  society  determines  what  it  approves, 
and  establishes  a  particular  apparatus  for  advancing  the 
approved  and  throwing  out  the  disapproved  ;  it  is  a  law  of 
nature  that  those  deemed  fittest  survive.  The  key  to  the 
part  this  process  plays  in  progress  is  found  in  the  contest 
of  nation  with  nation,  in  which  those  with  false  standards 
of  fitness  cannot  long  hold  their  own. 

Survival  of  Individuals  in  Psychical  Life. — In  the  psy- 
chical life  of  society,  finally,  the  same  truth  holds  good. 
The  individual's  position  in  the  intellectual  world,  in  the 
world  of  art,  of  morals,  of  religion,  is  determined  by  his 
adaptation  as  judged  by  the  social  standard.  The  process 
begins  in  the  schools.  Those  who  fail  to  do  the  work  in 
the  lower  school  and  the  "  grammar  school "  successfully, 
do  not  go  on  to  the  "  high  school  "  ;  those  who  fail  or  lose 
interest  in  the  high  school  and  "  academy,"  do  not  go  on 
to  the  college  and  the  university.  The  fact  that  examina- 
tions are  passed  successfully,  opens  the  way  to  higher  op- 
portunities ;  those  who  have  shown  themselves  fit  are  ad- 
vanced, while  those  who  are  thrown  out  must  work  at  a 
considerable  disadvantage,  if  they  would  win  position  in 
the  literary  or  educational  world.  The  law  of  nature  is 
that  the  fittest  man  survives  and  rises.  Society,  however, 


286  INTRODUCTION   TO   SOCIOLOGY 

determines  the  standard  of  fitness,  and  the  social  standard 
constantly  needs  revising,  that  it  may  do  its  work  properly. 
The  penalty  for  the  society  that  persists  in  judging  by  a 
false  standard,  will  appear  as  we  go  on  to  consider  the  fate 
of  social  groups  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

2.  Survival  of  Social  Groups  in  the  Struggle  for  Ex- 
istence.— The  struggle  of  group  with  group  repeats  the 
story  of  survival  and  of  destruction.  The  simple  groups  of 
uncivilized  life — the  tribe  or  the  "  horde  " — can  only  sur- 
vive by  proving  their  fitness  to  given  conditions.  Some 
savage  genius  introduces  a  wise  organization  and  a  strenu- 
ous rule  before  which  surrounding  tribes  can  make  no 
resistance.  The  savage  empire  thus  produced  has  no  ele- 
ments of  permanence ;  with  the  death  of  its  founder  the 
central  power  decays,  and  no  part  has  such  fitness  that  it 
can  assume  the  leadership.  Still  in  this  process,  repeated 
from  time  to  time,  lie  the  possibility  and  the  hope  of  prog- 
ress, for  each  new  leader  brings  some  slight  "  variation/' 
and  if  the  "  varieties  "  prove  better  fitted  to  the  conditions 
and  are  preserved,  they  form  a  starting-point  for  future, 
still  more  fit,  varieties. 

The  simple  struggle  of  savage  tribes  has  become  a  con- 
test of  nations,  but  the  result  is  the  same.  The  fittest 
prove  their  fitness  in  the  struggle,  and  survive.  Rome  was 
the  fittest  to  conquer  and  to  rule,  and  the  world  became  the 
Roman  World.  The  superior  strength  of  Germany  thirty 
years  ago  proved  that  her  social  and  military  organiza- 
tions were  better  fitted  to  existing  conditions  than  were 
those  of  France.  A  nation's  strength,  its  power  to  survive, 
is  determined  by  its  relative  fitness  to  the  conditions  of 
modern  national  life.  The  fittest  nation  survives,  gains  in 
power,  and  helps  to  shape  the  future  conditions  of  politi- 
cal life. 

Survival  of  Fittest  Group  is  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest 
Social  Organization. — In  fact,  it  is  in  the  contest  of  group 
with  group  that  the  law  of  survival  works  out  the  gradual  im- 
provement of  social  organization.  The  point  where  a  society 


NATURAL   SELECTION   IN   HUMAN   SOCIETY      287 

is  most  severely  tested  is  its  organization,  and  slight  superi- 
ority here  counts  for  much.  On  the  lower  stages  of  social 
development  it  may  be  simply  the  rigidity  of  a  tribe  under 
able  command  that  makes  it  strong — as  Bagehot  has  shown 
in  his  brilliant  essays — and  later,  an  element  of  flexibility 
adds  greater  strength.  The  apparatus  for  determining 
the  survival  and  advancement  of  the  fittest  individuals  is  a 
most  important  element  in  the  strength  of  a  society.  That 
society  which  first  develops  a  system  that  utilizes  the  gifts 
of  individuals,  without  weakening  the  structure  of  the 
group,  gains  an  immense  advantage  over  its  competitors. 
A  nation  which,  like  Turkey  to-day,  refuses  to  use  the 
talents  men  might  have  for  statesmanship,  can  expect  only 
a  rotten  existence,  wholly  dependent  on  the  interests  of 
foreign  states.  In  a  word,  the  standard  of  fitness  which  a 
group  may  set  up  for  its  members,  determines  which  mem- 
bers shall  survive  and  be  advanced  ;  but  the  group  which 
sets  up  a  low  or  false  standard  is  itself  condemned  to  fail- 
ure in  the  contest  of  group  with  group. 

Factors  determining  the  Fitness  of  a  Surviving  Group. 
(a)  TJie  Family. — It  is  equally  true  that  the  particular  form 
of  organization  in  each  separate  mode  of  social  activity  is  a 
source  of  added  weakness  or  added  strength  to  the  society 
as  a  whole.  The  development  of  the  family  was  worked 
out  in  early  times  along  this  line.  The  recognition  of  the 
child's  connection  with  its  mother  as  something  more,  and 
more  lasting,  than  the  physical  connection  with  the  source 
of  its  early  food,  helped  to  develop  cohesion  in  the  tribe. 
Later,  the  recognition  of  the  father's  authority  over  his 
property,  in  the  patriarchal  family,  was  a  firmer  bond  of 
union  and  a  source  of  increased  strength  to  those  tribes 
that  adopted  it.  The  higher  ideal  of  the  monogamous 
family  has  finally  won  its  place  because  it  is  the  basis  of  a 
deeper  and  truer  national  life  than  the  forms  that  preceded 
it.  The  authority  of  the  family-ideal  lies  in  the  fact  that 
it  has  proved  its  fitness  by  lending  strength  to  groups  in 
the  struggle  for  existence. 


288  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

(b)  Industrial  Organization. — The  industrial  organiza- 
tion of  society  lias  in  like  manner  proved  the  fitness  of  each 
stage  of  its  development  by  the  strength  it  has  given  to 
social  groups  in  their  struggle  for  existence.     The  tribe 
that  kept  its  captives  as  slaves,  could  develop  a  far  more 
complex  and  more  permanent  organization  than  the  tribe 
that  destroyed  its  enemies  in  war.     But  when  men  had 
learned  the  power  of  application  and  self-control,  slavery 
became  a  menace  to  the  nation  instead  of  a  source  of 
strength.      By  the  same  law  that  called  it  into  being — the 
law  that  excellence  of  an  industrial  organization  is  tested 
by  the  strength  it  gives  the  group — by  this  same  law  the 
doom  of  slavery  was  pronounced.      It  made  the  nation 
weaker  morally,   industrially,   physically ;  and  this  was 
most  strikingly  proved  by  the  war  of  1861.     The  present 
industrial  problems  are  being  worked  out  on  the  same  line, 
and  the  solutions  offered  are  judged  by  the  same  test.     Dis- 
content among  workmen  and  liability  to  strikes  are  sources 
of  industrial  weakness  ;  oppression  of  isolated  industrial 
groups,  short-sighted  monopolies  that  seek  to  reap  quick 
harvests  from  ill-gotten  power,  excessive  speculation,  are 
sources  of  weakness  ;  corporations  that  use  these  methods 
are  at  a  disadvantage  in  their  contest  with  other  industrial 
groups,  and  the  nation  where  such  methods  prevail  is  at 
a  disadvantage  in  competition  with  other  nations.     Solu- 
tions for  these  problems  are  offered,  and  in  the  industrial 
struggle  they  are  tested,  until  at  length  the  right  solution 
shows  its  authority  by  proving  its  fitness  to  make  the  in- 
dustrial group  and  the  nation  strong. 

(c)  Political  Principles.  —  Political  life  furnishes  the 
clearest  example  of  the  principle  under  consideration.     Po- 
litical parties,  if  they  perform  at  all  their  proper  functions, 
present  to  the  people  clear  issues  on  questions  most  impor- 
tant to  the  nation's  life.     The  successful  party  represents 
the  nation's  decision  on  these  questions.     If  that  decision 
is  proved  wrong  by  the  fact  that  it  makes  the  nation  weak- 
er in  the  struggle  for  its  position  among  the  nations,  the 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY     289 

people  have  opportunity  to  change  their  decision.  The 
party's  policy  is  judged  first  in  the  contest  with  other 
parties,  and  then  in  the  contest  of  nation  with  nation  ;  its 
correctness  is  shown  by  its  power  to  make  the  nation 
strong  and  respected.  According  to  this  principle,  the 
state  has  won  its  right  to  exercise  authority,  and  the  gov- 
erned have  won  the  right  to  protest  against  an  unwise 
and  unjust  government.  According  to  the  same  princi- 
ple, questions  as  to  the  limits  of  state  activity  are  being 
tested  to-day.  Men  use  argument  to  persuade  the  people 
that  it  is  worth  while  for  the  state  to  attempt  to  extend  the 
sphere  of  its  activity  ;  the  question  is  temporarily  decided 
in  the  Reichstag  or  in  Parliament,  but  the  real  decision  de- 
pends on  the  severe  test  of  fitness  in  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence. Whatever  limit  to  state  activity  proves  its  fitness  by 
making  the  nation  strong,  this  limit  may  lay  claim  to  truth. 
(d)  The  Standard  of  Eight,  Truth,  and  Beauty. — Once 
more,  in  the  psychical  sphere  the  questions  of  truth,  and 
right,  and  beauty  are  decided  by  the  same  test  of  fitness.  The 
introduction  and  development  of  a  new  standard  of  right 
have  already  been  outlined  (p.  275).  The  contest  of  ideals 
is  carried  on  at  length  by  a  contest  of  parties  representing 
ideals.  The  party  which  triumphs  in  the  contest  success- 
fully asserts  a  temporary  authority  for  its  ideal ;  the  real 
test  comes,  however,  when  the  recognition  of  the  ideal  en- 
forced by  the  successful  party  works  out  its  effect  in  the 
life  of  the  people.  If  the  new  ideal  produces  more  earnest, 
more  upright,  truer  men,  if  it  binds  families  together  in 
a  deeper  common  life,  if  it  makes  men  better  citizens  by 
kindling  their  devotion  to  the  state,  the  new  ideal  proves 
its  real  authority  by  making  the  man,  the  family,  the  state, 
better  fitted  for  the  struggle  of  life.  Tho  religious  man 
uses  the  old  motto  "  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei "  in  the  deeper 
sense  in  which  its  truth  cannot  be  questioned  :  God's 
voice  proclaims  the  right  to  each  age  and  each  people,  in 
the  ideal  which  makes  that  people  best  able  to  do  its  work 
in  its  own  age. 


290  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

The  test  of  truth  and  beauty  is  essentially  the  same. 
Men  have  tried  in  vain — first  with  military  force,  and  then 
with  the  power  of  the  ballot — to  make  propositions  true. 
The  immediate  test  of  a  new  proposition  is  its  acceptance 
by  the  few  minds  best  qualified  to  express  an  opinion  upon 
it.  Every  new  opinion  has  to  run  a  gauntlet  in  the  learned 
world,  and  under  criticism  its  strong  points  and  its  weak 
points  are  revealed.  So  every  new  departure  in  art  has  to 
justify  itself  to  the  art  critics,  and  through  them  to  the 
public.  This  is  only  the  preliminary  test  of  excellence. 
The  new  opinion  in  science  requires  the  further  test  of  ex- 
perience in  its  favor.  It  is  true,  if  it  makes  the  student 
improvement  better  fitted  to  deal  with  the  problems  of 
science  :  true,  if  it  leads  to  further  discovery  and  useful  in- 
vention ;  true,  if  familiar  facts  receive  new  light  and  new 
meaning  from  it.  The  ultimate  test  is  its  manifested 
power  to  make  men  better  fitted  to  deal  with  the  objects 
of  scientific  study.  And  a  new  conception  of  beauty  has 
not  proved  its  right  to  be,  by  making  a  few  converts 
among  critics.  When  its  power  to  stimulate  and  ele- 
vate the  human  soul  has  been  demonstrated,  when  human 
life  has  been  enriched  by  it,  when  it  has  made  men  bet- 
ter fitted  for  the  work  of  life — then  it  may  lay  claim  to 
authority. 

3.  Survival  of  the  Fittest  Institutions — In  discussing 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  in  the  struggle  of  social  groups,  I 
have  almost  inevitably  spoken  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
institutions,  which  have  made  the  groups  what  they  are. 
The  general  type  of  social  organization,  which  makes  a 
social  group  strong  in  the  contest  of  groups,  has  proved  its 
fitness  by  the  survival  of  the  group  that  it  has  character- 
ized. So,  too,  each  particular  phase  of  social  organization 
is,  as  we  have  seen,  a  source  of  added  strength  or  weakness. 
The  form  of  industrial  organization  in  all  its  details,  the 
type  of  the  family  and  the  class  organization  in  social  life, 
the  legal  and  political  organization  of  a  society,  the  place 
it  gives  to  psychical  life  and  the  forms  of  psychical  life 


NATURAL  SELECTION   IN   HUMAN   SOCIETY      291 

which  are  encouraged — all  these  phases  of  its  life  are  the 
institutions  in  which  it  finds  strength  or  -weakness.  The 
struggle  and  survival  of  institutions  are  essentially  the  stru-g-" 
gle  of  social  groups  and  the  survival  of  the  groum  which 
finxd^strength~m  their  institutions.  The  contesin&f  ideas 
and  ideals  is  essentially  a  contest  of  groups  representing 
ideas  or  ideals ;  and  in  the  success  and  survival  of  the 
group,  the  ideas  are  proved  true  or  false. 

The  Process  of  "  Survival "  of  Social  Institutions. — It 
is  important  to  form  a  clear  idea  of  the  process  of  "  survi- 
val" for  social  institutions,  as  well  as  for  all  ideals  and 
ideas,  because  this  is  the  manner  in  which  every  reform 
must  win  its  success,  the  process  by  which  ethical  and  in- 
tellectual life  develops.  Each  new  phase  of  social  life, 
each  new  line  of  thought  or  of  conduct,  must  first  prove 
its  excellence  to  the  few  who  are  fitted  to  judge  it,  and 
through  them  to  the  people  generally.  The  new  and  the 
old  first  compete  for  the  approval  of  the  individual  mind  ; 
apostles  of  the  new  urge  its  claims  upon  all  who  will'  lis- 
ten ;  if  the  new  phase  of  social  life  passes  this  test  success- 
fully, it  becomes  incorporated  in  the  life  of  a  people,  and 
its  fortunes  are  identified  with  the  people's  fortunes.  Then 
comes  the  second  test — the  test  by  the  effect  on  the  peo- 
ple's life.  What  helps  the  people  to  survive,  ultimately 
proves  its  "  fitness  "  by  surviving.  The  new  "variety" 
survives,  if  it  is  the  fittest,  (a)  by  appealing  to  individual 
reason,  and  (b)  by  proving  its  adaptation  in  the  fact  that 
it  makes  the  social  group  better  equipped  in  the  struggle 
with  other  groups. 

Authority  and  Stability  of  Social  Institutions.— ^The 
manner  in  which  each  social  institution  has  t.Tms  hppp  h^y^ — 
of  struggle,  explains  both   its  anth^rj^y  OT1^  i*p  »1"i™  *« — • 
stabilityT^  A  particular  government,  so  the  science  of  poli- 
tics asserts,  has  authority  over  its  people,  because  it  is  an 
institution  that  has  proved  its  right  to  exercise  authority 
in  the  severest  kind  of  struggle,  by  the  severest  test  by 
which  it  could  be  tested.     It  continues  to  exercise  author- 


292  INTRODUCTION  TO   SOCIOLOGY 

ity  rightfully,  just  so  long  as  it  continues  to  meet  the  re- 
quirements of  this  test.  Its  stability  depends  on  its  rela- 
tive justification  to  the  minds  of  critics,  and  on  its  ultimate 
justification  in  that  it  makes  the  nation  strong  to  meet  its 
difficulties  and  to  fulfil  its  tasks.  Or,  again,  in  the  theory 
of  knowledge,  the  authority  of  truth  and  its  unchanging 
character  depend  on  the  struggle  in  which  truth  must  orig- 
inally assert  its  power,  and  continually  reassert  it.  "  Ma- 
terialistic/' "  idealistic,"  and  "  critical "  views  of  the 
world  each  claim  to  be  true.  The  first  test  is  power  to 
command  the  assent  of  thinkers,  the  second  is  the  test  of 
life.  Any  truth  that  passes  these  tests  has  enduring  au- 
thority, and  the  particular  statement  of  that  truth  has 
authority  so  long  as  it  meets  these  tests.  Such  an  institu- 
tion as  the  "  public  school,"  such  an  ideal  as  that  of  true 
charity  to  classes  that  become  dependent,  derives  its  author- 
ity from  the  twofold  struggle  in  which  it  prevails  ;  and  so 
long  as  it  meets  the  test,  it  produces  stability,  and  right- 
fully exercises  authority. 

Principle  of  Development  in  the  Present  Idea  of  Author- 
ity.— The  present  account  of  the  social  authority  and  sta- 
bility of  institutions  does  not,  however,  at  all  exclude  a 
principle  of  change,  ^o  soon  as  a  new  phase  of  socjaL-iife* 
— perhaps  a  new  type  of  trades-union,  with  more_  atteiH 
jtion  to  thft  higher  needs  of  workmen^-claims  recognition, 
the  authority  of  the  earlier  phase  jmust  reassert  itself^  or  ^ 
be  supplanted"!  In  Greek  legend,  one  dynasty  of  the  gods 
falls  before  a  new  and  stronger  dynasty.  Such  is  the  his- 
tory of  ideals  and  institutions  in  the  process  of  social  de- 
velopment. New  ideals,  born  of  the  old,  assert  superior 
authority ;  the  good  yields  to  the  better;  but  the  stabil- 
ity of  truth  and  the  authority  of  right  remain  unques- 
tioned. 

Progress  by  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest. — "Progress 
has  been  due  to  the  opportunity  of  those  individuals  who 
are  a  little  superior  in  some  respects  to  their  fellows  of  as- 
serting their  superiority,  and  of  continuing  to  live,  and  of 


NATURAL  SELECTION  IN  HUMAN  SOCIETY     293 

promulgating,  as  an  inheritance,  that  superiority."  l  The 
doctrine  of  natural  selection  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest 
in  human  society,  represents  simply  the  principle  that 
those  types  best  fitted  to  live  are  the  ones  that  survive. 
This  principle  it  applies,  not  to  individuals  alone,  but  also 
to  social  groups  and  to  the  ideal  and  institutions  which  so- 
cial groups  represent.  In  the  simple  principle  of  selection, 
the  modern  science  of  society  finds  the  key  to  social  de- 
velopment. In  biology,  selection  meant  development  of 
new  and  higher  types,  because  the  conditions  of  life  were 
constantly  changing ;  and  the  rise  of  new  biological  types 
was  the  basis  for  yet  more  complex  and  higher  types  of 
plants  and  animals.  In  human  society,  the  principle  of 
selection  becomes  in  truth  a  principle  of  progress,  because 
the  development  of  higher  social  types  produces  those  con- 
ditions which  make  yet  higher  types  possible.  As  the  con- 
ditions of  social  existence  become,  not  only  more  complex, 
but  also  more  truly  human,  the  type  of  the  "  best  adapted  " 
becomes  higher;  with  each  step  in  development  is  given 
the  stimulus  to  a  further  and  higher  development. 

Students  of  history  have  often  sought  to  explain  progress 
by  pointing  out  the  conditions  of  progress.  The  great 
lesson  of  the  theory  of  natural  selection,  as  applied  to  hu- 
man society,  is  that  it  is  not  external  conditions  which  ac- 
count for  progress.  Rather  in  the  selection  of  the  better 
men,  the  better  social  groups,  the  better  social  institutions 
and  ideals,  the  power  of  each  social  unit  to  utilize  favor- 
able conditions  is  developed  and  increased.  The  true  key 
to  progress  is  found  in  the  development  of  the  faculty  to 
use  the  so-called  external  conditions  of  progress. 

1  Professor  Flower,  "  Reply  to  an  Address  by  the  Trades  Council, 
Newcastle,  September,  1889."  Quoted  by  Mr.  B.  Kidd,  Social  Evolu- 
tion^ p.  34. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

THIS  bibliography  was  originally  intended  simply  as  a 
list  of  the  more  important  books  which  had  been  found 
useful  in  the  preparation  of  the  present  work  ;  while  it 
has  been  increased  by  the  addition  of  many  titles  of  recent 
books,  it  still  lays  no  claim  to  completeness.  The  aim  is 
rather  to  guide  the  student  to  further  material  along  the 
lines  suggested  in  the  body  of  the  work ;  and  in  order  to 
make  it  as  practical  as  possible,  it  is  arranged  according  to 
the  headings  of  the  chapters  in  the  book  itself. 

ABBREVIATIONS 

A.  A.  P.  S.  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science. 
Annals  and  Transactions.  Philadelphia,  1890-. 

A.  J.  S.     American  Journal  of  Sociology.     Chicago,  1895-. 
/.  J.  E.     International  Journal  of  Ethics.     Philadelphia,  1891-. 
R.  I.  S.     Revue  Internationale  de  sociologie.     Paris,  1893-. 
Z.  f.  v.  P.     Zeitschrift  fur  vergleichende  Psychologic. 

GENERAL  WORKS 

Ammon,  O.  Die  Gesellschaftsordnung  und  ihre  natiirlichen  Gritnd- 
lagen.  Jena,  1895. 

Bagehot,  W.     Physics  and  Politics.     New  York,  1876. 

Baldwin,  J.  M.  Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations  in  Moral  Develop- 
ment. New  York,  1899. 

Earth,  P.  Die  Philosophic  der  Geschichte  als  Sociologie.  I.  Leipzig, 
1897. 

Carey,  H.  C.     Principles  of  Social  Science.     Philadelphia,  1858-59. 

Comte,  A.     Coursde  philosophic  positive.   Third  Edition.    Paris,  1869. 

Conrad,  Elster,  Lexis  und  Loerning.  Handworterbuch  der  Staatswis- 
senschaften.  6  vols.  Jena,  1890-94.  Erstes  Supplementband, 
1895. 

295 


296  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Durkheim,  E.     De  la  division  du  travail  social.     Paris,  1893. 
Fouillee,  A.     La  science  sociale  contemporaine.     Paris,  1885. 
Giddings,  F.  H.   "  The  Theory  of  Sociology."  Supplement,  A.  A.  P.  S. 
1894. 

The  Principles  of  Sociology.     New  York  and  London,  1896. 

Elements  of  Sociology.     New  York  and  London,  1899. 
de  Greef,  G.     Introduction  a  la  sociologie.    Bruxelles  et  Paris.    I. 
1886;  II.  1889. 

Les  lois  sociologiques.     Bruxelles.     1891. 
Gumplowicz,  L.     Der  Rassenkampf.     Innsbruck,  1883. 

Grundriss  der  Sociologie.    Wien,  1885.   Eug.  Trans.    A.  A.  P.  S. 

Transactions,  No.  253.     1899. 

Hansen,  G.     Die  drei  Bevolkerungsstufen.     Miinchen,  1889. 
Hendersen,  C.  R.     Social  Elements.     New  York,  1898. 
Kidd,  B.     Social  Evolution.     London,  1895. 
Lilienfeld,  P.  v.     Gedanken  iiber  die  Socialwissenschaft  der  Zukunft. 

Mitau,  1873-75. 
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New  York,  1890. 

Novicow,  J.     Les  luttes  entre  societes  humaines.     Paris,  1893. 
Patten,  S.  N.     "  The  Theory  of  Social  Forces."    Supplement,  A.  A. 

P.  S.     1896. 
Schaffle,  A.    Ban  und  Leben  des  socialen  Korpers.    4  vols.    Tubingen. 

1875-77 ;  2te  Auflage.  2  vols.     1896. 

Simmel,  G.      Ueber  sociale  Differenzierung.     Leipzig,  1890. 
Smith,  R.  Mayo.     Statistics  and  Sociology.     New  York,  1896. 
Spencer,  H.     Social  Statics.     London,  1851. 

First  Principles  of  a  New  System  of  Philosophy .   New  York,  1874. 

Descriptive  Sociology.     New  York,  1873-81. 

Principles  of  Sociology.     New  York,  1891. 

Principles  of  Ethics.     New  York,  1892-93. 
Tarde,  G.     Les  Ids  de  limitation.     Paris,  1890. 

La  logique  sociale.     Paris,  1895. 

L'opposition  universelle.     Paris,  1897. 

Social  Laws.     Eng.  Trans.     London  and  New  York,  1899. 
Tonnies,  F.     Gemeinsehaft  und  Gesellschaft.     Leipzig,  1887. 
Ward,  L.  F.     Dynamic  Sociology.     New  York,  1883. 

The  Psychic  Factors  of  Civilization.     Boston,  1893. 

Outlines  of  Sociology.     New  York,  1898. 

See  also  the  various  Culturgeschichten  published  in  Germany ;  also 
discussions  of  Ethics  (especially  those  by  Hoffding,  Paulsen,  and 
Wundt),  and  of  the  Philosophy  of  History. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  297 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  FOR  THE   INTRODUCTION 

I.  SOCIOLOGY  THE  STUDY  OP  THE  SOCIETY  OB  SOCIAL  GROUP 

Espinas,  A.     Des  societes  animates.    Paris,  1878.     Introduction,  and 

Conclusion,  p.  527  sqq. 
Gumplowicz.     Rassenkampf,  §  30,  et  pass. 
Lazarus.     Z.  f.  v.  P.  I.  32.     "  Was  ist  ein  Volk  ?  " 
Pioger.     R.  /.  S.  February,  1894.     "Theorie  organique  de  la  vie  so- 

ciale." 
Worms,  W.     R.  L  S.  1894.     "  La  sociologie." 

II.  THE  PLACE  OF  SOCIOLOGY  AMONG  THE  SOCIAL  SCIENCES 

Comte,  A.     Philosophic  positive.     I.     "  Introductory  Principles." 
Fiamingo.     R.  L  S.  June,  1894.     "  Une  loi  sociologique." 
Giddings,  F.  H.     "  Province  of  Sociology."    A.  A.  P.  S.  1891. 

"  Sociological  Character  of  Political  Economy."    American  Eco- 
nomic Association,  II.,  129. 
de  Greef .     Introduction  a  la  sociologie,  Vol.  I. ,  chapter  vii. 

Les  lois  sociologiques. 

Gumplowicz,  L.     Soziologie  und  Politik.     1892. 
Leslie,  T.  E.  C.     Essays  in  Political  and  'Joral  Philosophy.    Dublin, 

1879.     XXVI.     "Political  Economy  and  Sociology." 
Limanowski.     R.  I.  S.  July,  1894.     "  La  classification  des  sciences  et 

la  sociologie. " 
Patten,  S.  N.     "  The  Relations  of  Sociology  to  Economics."    Amer. 

Econ.  Assoc.,  Vol.  X. 

de  Roberty,  E.     La  sociologie.     Paris,  1886. 

Sidgwick,  H.     /.  J.  E.  X.  1.    "  The  Relation  of  Ethics  to  Sociology." 
Small,  A.  W.     "  The  Relation  of  Sociology  to  Economics."    Amer. 

Econ.  Assoc.,  Vol.  X. 

Spencer,  H.     Principles  of  Sociology,  Vol.  I.,  Part  ii. 
Sumner,  W.  G.     Princeton  Review,  LVII.,  p.  303.     "  Sociology." 
Ward,  L.   F.     Pol.   Science  Quar.,  Vol.   X.     "Static  and  Dynamic 
Sociology."     A.  J.  S.,  Vol.  I.     "The  Place  of  Sociology  among 
the  Sciences." 
Worms,  R.     R.  I.  S.,  I.,  437.     "Essai  de  classification  des  sciences 

sociales." 
R.  I.  S.  June,  1894.     "  La  sociologie  et  1'economie  politique." 


298  BIBLIOGRAPHY 


III.  THE  SCIENTIFIC  CHARACTER  OF  SOCIOLOGY 

Bernes,  M.  Rev.  d'Econ.  Pol.,  1894.  "  Les  deux  directions  de  la  so- 
ciologie  contemporaine." 

Cohn,  G.  System  der  Nationalokonomie.  Stuttgart,  1880.  Bd.  I. 
"  Einleitung." 

Durkheim,  E.     Les  regies  de  la  methode  sociologique.     Paris,  1895. 

Espinas,  A.     Des  societes  animates.     Paris,  1878.     Introduction. 

Kingaley,  C.  The  Limits  of  Exact  Science  as  applied  to  History. 
Cambridge,  1860. 

de  Laveleye,  E.     Les  lois  naturelles  et  Fob  jet  de  Feconomie  politique. 

Leslie,  T.  E.  C.  Essays.  Dublin,  1879.  III.  "The  Individual  and 
the  Crowd." 

Lewis,  G.  C.  On  the  Methods  of  Observation  and  Reasoning  in  Poli- 
tics. London,  1852. 

Mayr,  G.     Die  Gesetzmassigkeit  und  Gesellschaftsleben. 

Menger,  C.  Untersuchungen  iiber  die  Methoden  der  Socialwissenschaf- 
ten.  Leipzig,  1883. 

Novicow,  J.     Les  luttes  entre  societes  humaines.     Paris,  1893. 

Patten.  Theory  of  Social  Forces.  A.  A.  P.  S.  Supplement,  Janu- 
ary, 1896. 

Spencer,  H.     The  Study  of  Sociology.    New  York,  1880. 

Strada,  J.     La  loi  de  Fhistoire.     Paris,  1894. 


CHAPTER  I 

SOCIETY  REGARDED  AS  A  CONTRACT 

Boaanquet,  B.     The  Philosophical  Theory  of  the  State.    London  and 

New  York,  1899. 

Graham,  W.     English  Political  Philosophy.    London,  1899. 
Green,   T.    H.     Lectures   on    the    Grounds  of  Political    Obligation. 

Works  II. 

Hobbes.     Leviathan.     Chapter  xvii. 

Locke.     Two  Treatises  on  Civil  Government.     Chapters  ix.-x. 
Maine,  H.  S.     Ancient  Law.     New  York,  1864. 
Pollock,  F.     History  of  the  Science  of  Politics.    London,  1900. 
Rousseau,  J.  J.     Le  control  social.     Eng.  trans.     New  York,  1893. 
Seeley,  J.  R.     Introduction  to  Political  Science.     London,  1896. 
Willoughby,  W.  W.     The  Nature  of  the   State.   New   York,    1896. 

Chapters  iii.-iv. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  299 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  ORGANIC  CHARACTER  OF  SOCIETY 

Bluntschli,  J.  C.     Theory  of  the  State.     Ofcford,  1885. 
Kleine  Schriften,  Vol.  I.,  chap.  x.     Nordlingen,  1879. 

Bordier,  A.     La  vie  des  socittcs.     Paris,  1887.     Chapter  ii. 

Espinas,  A.     Des  societes  animates.     (Especially  the  conclusion.) 

Fouillee,  A.     La  science  sociale  contemporaine.     Book  II. 

de  Greef.     Introduction  a  la  sociologie,  Vol.  I.,  chapters  i.  and  vi 

Gumplowicz.     Der  Rassenkampf.     IV. 
Grundriss  der  Sociologie.     III. 

Hellwald.     Culturgeschichte.     I.     "  Die  socialcn  Gesetze." 

Hoffding.     Ethik,  pp.  187,  sqq. 

v.  Humboldt,  W.     Ges.  Werke,  I.,  p.  301  sqq. 

Jones.     "  The  Social  Organism  "  in  Seth-Haldane  :  Essays  in  Philo~ 
tophical  Criticism,  pp.  187-215. 

Lilienfeld.     Gedanken  uber  die  Socialwissenschaft  der  Zukunft. 

Mackenzie.     Introduction  to  Social  Philosophy.     Chapter  iii. 

Menger,  C.     Die  Methode  der  Socialwissenschaften.     Book  III. 

Patten,  S.  N.     "The  Failure  of  Biologic  Sociology."    A.  A.  P.  8. 
Vol.  IV. 

Pioger.     R.  I.  S.  February,  1894.   Theorie  organique  de  la  vie  sociale." 

Schaeffle.     Ban  und  Leben  des  socialen  Korpers. 

Spencer.     Principles  of  Sociology.    Part  II.     "  Illustrations  of  Uni- 
versal Progress. "     Chapter  x. 

Wallace,  W.     Mind.    VIII.     "  Ethics  and  Sociology." 


CHAPTER  III 
RACE  AND  LOCALITY 

Bordier,  A.     La  vie  des  societes.     Paris,  1887.     Chapters  xi.-xvii. 
Buckle.     History  of  Civilization  in  England.     New  York,  1858-62. 

Chapter  ii. 
Cohn.     System  der  Nationalbkonomie.     Band  I.     Stuttgart,  1885. 

Abschn.  I.  (especially  chapters  vii.-ix.) 
Dumont.     Depopulation  et  civilisation.     Paris,  1890. 
de  Greef,  G.    Introduction  a  la  sociologie.    Paris,  1886.   I.,  Chapter  iii. 
Gumplowicz.     Der  Rassenkampf,  §§  25,  30,  31,  et  pass. 
Hellwald.     Culturgeschichte.     I. ,  p.  36  sq. 


300  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hoffding.     Ethik.)  p.  273  sqq. 

Honegger.     Allgemeine   Culturgeschichte.     Leipzig,  1882.     I.,  p.  153 

sqq. 
Marshall.     Principles  of  Economics.    Ed.  3.    London,  1895.    I.,  Book 

IV. 

Meyer,  E.     Geschichte  des  Altertums.     Stuttgart,  1893.     II.,  §  40. 
Montesquieu.     De  C  esprit  des  lois.     Chapters  xiv.-xix. 
Novicow.     Les  luttes  entre  societes  Tiumaines.     Liv.  II.  chapter  ii. ; 

Liv.  IV.  chapter  vii. 
Patten,  S.  N.     Pol.  Science  Quar.  Vol.  X.     "The  Law  of  Population 

Restated." 
Pearson,  C.     National  Life  and  Character.    London,  1893.    Chapters 

L-iii. 

Robinson,  J.  M.     Suckle  and  his  Critics.     London,  1895. 
Wagner,  A.     Lehr-  und  Handbuch  der  politischen  Oekonomie.     Erste 

Hauptabtheilung.      Dritte  Auflage.     Leipzig,    1893.      Erste 

Theil.     Buch  IV. 

Waitz.     Anthropologie  der  Naturvolker.     I. ,  p.  38  sqq. 
Wright,  C.  D.     Outlines  of  Practical  Sociology.     1899.    Part  III. 


CHAPTER  IV 

ASSOCIATION 

Bordier,  A.     La  vie  des  societes.     Chapters  ii.-iii.     1 

Espinas,  A.     Les  societes  animates.     Chapter  iv. 

Fouillee,  A.     La  science  sociale.     Book  II. 

Giddings,  F.  H.  The  Principles  of  Sociology,  Book  II.  chapter  i. ; 
Book  III. 

Gide,  Ch.     R.  I.  £.,  I.,  385.     "L'idee  de  solidarite." 

Gumplowicz.     Der  Rassenkampf,  §§  35-36. 

Guyau,  M.     L'art  au  point  de  vue  sociologique.     Paris,  1889. 

de  Lestrade,  C.     Elements  de  sociologie.     Paris,  1889.     Book  I. 

Novicow,  J.     Les  luttes  entre  societes  humaines.     Liv.  II.  chapter  vi. 

Pioger,  R.  J.  S.,  February,  1894.  "Theorie  organique  de  la  vie  so- 
ciale. " 

Spencer,  H.     Principles  of  Sociology. 

Zeitschrift  fur  Vblkerpsychologie,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  32  sqq. ;  III.,  1  sqq. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  301 

CHAPTER   V 
THE  SOCIAL  MIND 

Bosanquet,  B.     /.  J.  E.     April,  1894.     "  The  Reality  of  the  General 

Will." 

Bradley,  F.  H.     Ethical  Studies.     London,  1876. 
Clifford,  W.  H.     Essays  and  Addresses.     London,  1879. 
Fouillee,  A.     La  science  sociale.     Liv.  III. 

Giddings,  F.  H.     The  Principles  of  Sociology.     Book  II. ,  chapter  ii. 
Guyau,  M.     L'ari  au  point  de  vue  sociologique.     Paris,  1889. 
Ihering,  R.     Der  Zweck  im  Recht.     Leipzig,  1877. 
Lazarus.     Z.  f  v.  P.     II.     "  Das  Verhaltniss   des  Einzeln  zur  Ge- 

sammtheit." 
Le  Bon.     The  Crowd.     A  Study  of  the  Popular  Mind.     New  York. 

2d  Ed.     1897.     The  Psychology  of  Peoples.    New  York,  1898. 
Leyasseur,  E.     Uenseignement  dans  les  pays  civilises.     Paris,  1897. 
Lewes.     Problems  of  Life  and  Mind.     London,  1879.    Vol.  III.     The 

Study  of  Psychology. 

Nettleship.     /.  J.  E.  January,  1892      "  Social  Authority." 
Kielil,  A.     Der  philosophische  Kriticismus,  II. ,  2 ;  Eng.  Tr.     Science 

and  Metaphysics.    London,  1894. 
Seth-Haldane.     Essays  in  Philosophical    Criticism,  p.   193,  et  pass. 

London,  1883. 
Stephen,  L.     The  Science  of  Ethics.     London  and  New  York,  1882. 

Social  Rights  and  Duties.     London  and  New  York,  1896. 
Tarde,  G.     Les  lois  de  ("imitation.     Paris.     1890. 
La  logique  sociale.     Paris.     1895. 
Social  Laws.     Eng.  Trans.     New  York,  1899. 

CHAPTER   VI 
CAUSES  OP  SOCIAL  ACTIVITY 

see  in  general  the  economic  discussions  of  man's  needs  as  a  stimulus 
to  industry,  e.g.  : 

Cohn.     System  der  Nationalokonomie.     I. ,  256-90. 
Marshall.     Principles  of  Economics.     I.,  47,  78  sq. ,  150  sq. 

Also 

Dumont.     Depopulation  et  civilisation.     Paris,  1890.     Chapter  ri. 
Morley,  J.     Critical  Miscellanies.   London,  1871.    "  Some  Greek  Con- 
ceptions of  Social  Growth,"  with  reference  to  Plato,  Polit., 
370-73;  Aristot,  Pol.,  I.,  ii. 


302  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Patten,  S.     The  Theory  of  Dynamic  Economics.     Publications  of  the 

University  of  Pennsylvania.     Philadelphia,  1892. 
"  The  Theory  of  Social  Forces."     Supplement,  A.  A.  P.  S.  1896. 
Stephen,  L.     The  Science  of  Ethics.     London,  1882. 
Ward,  L.  F.     Dynamic  Sociology.     I.,  chapter  vii. 


Much  material  is  found  in  books  on  Economics,  especially  Wagner, 
Lehr-  und  Handbuch  der  politischen    Oekonomie ;   also  in  books  on 
Ethics,  as  in  Hoffding,  Ethik,  S.  320-50 
Loria,  A.     Les  bases  economiques  de  la  constitution  sociale.     Paris, 

1893. 
Mackenzie,  J.  S.     7.  J.  E.  1893.     "  The  Relation  between  Ethics  and 

Economics." 

Molinari.     La  morale  economique.     Paris,  1888.     Liv.  I. 
Novicow,  J.     Les  luttes  entre  societies  humaines.     Liv.  Ill 
Stephen,  J.  F.     Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity.   New  York,  1873. 
Smart,  W.     /.  J.  E.  1893.     "  The   Place  of  Industry  in  the   Social 

Organism  " 

Villey,  E.    R.  I.  S.  II     "  Du  r61e  de  Petat  dans  1'ordre  economique." 
Z  f.  v.  P.  Bd.  III.  S.  21-30.     Lazarus,  Synthetische  Gedanken. 


CHAPTER   VIII 
INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  SOCIETY 

EXCHANGE 

The  Handbooks  on  Political  Economy. 

Decugis,  H.     R.  I.  S.  1894.     "  De  Pinfluence  du  progres  dee  commu- 
nications sur  Involution  des  societes." 

PROPERTY 

Lafargue.     The  Evolution  of  Property.     London,  1890. 

de  Laveleye,  E.  L.  V.    Dela  proprieU  et  ses  formes  primitives.    Paris, 

1874. 
Letourneau.     Property :  Its  Origin  and  Development.     London  and 

New  York,  1892. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  303 


INDUSTRIAL   DEVELOPMENT    IN   ENGLAND 

Ashley.     English  Economic  History.     New  York  and  London,  1892, 

1895. 

Rogers,  J.  E.  T.     Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages.     London,  1884. 
Toynbee,  A.     The  Industrial  Revolution.     London,  1884. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  FAMILY 

Achelis.     Die  Entwickelung  der  Ehe.     Berlin,  1893. 

Bachofen,  J.  J.     Das  Mutterrecht.     Stuttgart,  1861. 

Bancroft,  H.  H.      The  Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  and  North 
America.     New  York,  1874. 

Delbriick.    Die  Indogermanische  Verwandtschaftsnamen.  Abhd.  sachs. 
Oes.  d.  Wiss.     Phil.  hist.  Classe,  XL  1890. 

Girard-Teulon.     Les  origines  de  lafamille.     Paris,  1874. 

Janet,  P.     Lafamille.     Paris,  1866.     Sixth  Edition. 

de  Lestrade,  C.     Elements  de  sociologie.     Paris,  1889.     Livr.  II. 

Letourneau,  Ch.     The  Evolution  of  Marriage.     New  York. 

Lippert,  J.     Die  Geschichte  der  Familie.     Stuttgart,  1886. 

McLennan,  J.  F.     Studies  in  Ancient  History.     London,  1876. 
The  Patriarchal  Theory.     London,  1885. 

Morgan.     Systems  of  Consanguinity  and  Affinity  of  the  Human  Fam- 
ily.   Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  XVII.     1870. 
Ancient  Society.     New  York  and  London.     1877. 

Post,  A.  H.     D^e  Geschlechtsgenossenschaft  der  Urzeit  und  die  Ent- 

wickelung  der  Ehe.     Oldenburg,  1875. 

Studien  zur  Entwickelungsgeschichte  des  Familienrechts.     Olden- 
burg and  Leipzig,  1890. 

Smith,  W.  R.     Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia.     Cambridge, 
1885. 

Starcke,  C.  N.    The  Primitive  Family  in  its  Origin  and  Development. 
New  York  and  London,  1889. 

Sutherland.     The  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Moral  Instinct.     2  vols. 
London  and  New  York,  1898. 

Waitz,  T.     Anthropologie  der  Naturvblker.     Leipzig,  1859-1872. 

Westermarck,  E.     The  Histery  of  Human  Marriage.     London  and 
New  York,  1891. 

Wright,  C.  D.     Outlines  of  Practical  Sociology.     1899.     Part  IV. 


304  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER   X 

THE  STATE 

Adams,  Henry  C.     "The  Relation  of  the  State  to  Industrial  Action/ 
Amer.  Econ.  Assn.     Pamphlets.     I.,  6. 

Ahrens,  H.     Cours  du  droit  naturel.     7ieme  ed.     Leipzig,  1875. 

Austin,  J.     Lectures  on  Jurisprudence.     4th  ed.     London,  1873. 

Bagehot,  W.     Physics  and  Politics.     New  York,  1884. 

Bentham,  J.      Works.     Edinburgh,  1843.     Vol.  I. 

Bluntschli,  J.  C.     Allegemeines  Staatsrecht.     6  Auf.     Stuttgart,  1885. 
The  Theory  of  the  State.     Oxford,  1885. 
Kleine  Schriften.     Band  I.     Nordlingen,  1879. 

Bosanquet,  B.      The  Philosophical  Theory  of  the  State.     London  and 
New  York,  1899. 

Burgess,  J.  W.     Political  Science  and  Constitutional  Law.     Boston, 
1890. 

Giddings,  F.  H.     Democracy  and  Umpire.     New  York,  1899. 

Green,  T.  H.     Lectures  on  the  Grounds  of  Political  Obligation.     Lon- 
don, 1895. 

Gumplowicz,  L.     Die  sociologische  Staatsidee.     Graz,  1892. 

Hegel,  G.  W.  F.     Philosophic  des  Rechts ;    Werke.     Band  VIII.    Ber- 
lin, 1840. 

Hobbes,  T.     Leviathan.     London,  1651. 

Holland,  T.  E.     The  Elements  of  Jurisprudence.    Third  Edition.    Ox- 
ford, 1886. 

Ihering,  R.     Der  Zweck  im  Recht.    Leipzig,  1877. 

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CHAPTER  XI 
THE  INDIVIDUAL 

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CHAPTERS   XIV. -XV. 

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